PETALING JAYA: After being ousted as menteri besar of Perak, Ahmad Faizal Azumu has urged that there be no retaliatory moves against the heads of other governments.
His remark was viewed as being aimed at PPBM members in Johor where an assemblyman has suggested that the party take retaliatory action against Hasni Mohammad of Umno, who heads the state government there.
“This is the reaction we do not want to see. Today when a menteri besar is removed by component parties, there is this reaction elsewhere, but I advise that the administration of other state governments, the federal government and so on be allowed to run smoothly.” he said.
Speaking at a press conference after submitting his resignation to Sultan Nazrin Shah today, he said he did not hold a grudge against those who had caused him to lose majority support in the state assembly.
The confidence motion, to show support for Ahmad Faizal, had been tabled by an Umno assemblyman. It was defeated by 48-10 with one abstention. Umno holds 25 seats in the 59-member assembly, while PPBM and its ally PAS hold 8; the opposition Pakatan Harapan holds 24 seats.
In Johor, the Perikatan Nasional state government holds 29 seats comprising Umno (14), PPBM (12), MIC (2) and PAS (1). The opposition Pakatan Harapan has 27 seats from DAP (14), Amanah (9) and PKR (4).
Ahmad Faizal said: “There should be no revenge in politics because every matter can be resolved.”
He said the confidence vote had taken place “because we were not consulted beforehand”. He also referred to accusations of not having consulted before appointing a political secretary “but that is a very different matter”, he said.
On Friday, former Umno president Najib Razak had said the appointment of Pengkalan Hulu state assemblyman, Aznel Ibrahim, as Faizal’s political secretary was also a cause of the ouster.
He said Faizal had made the appointment without referring to the state Umno leadership. Najib said Perak Umno had been wary after PPBM accepted several assembly members from Umno after the 2018 general election.