Kedah faces dark future with new MB, PAS MP says

(Malay Mail Online) – Kedah will face troubling times under Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah as the new mentri besar in the controversial ouster of Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, a PAS lawmaker said today.

Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar accused Ahmad Bashah of being unscrupulous for leading a movement of Umno division leaders to remove the son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad from office.

“I am dissatisfied and disappointed with what had happened. Mukhriz had to resign today because he had no other choice when he was told he had lost a majority of the support from the state assemblymen,” Mahfuz told reporters after visiting Mukhriz at Dr Mahathir’s house at Kepala Batas here.

He also labelled Ahmad Bashah’s administration as a “toilet paper” state government.

“A majority of the new line-up will be made up of those without high political morals because those who signed the statutory declarations did not do it on their own volition, and I was told they were forced to sign it for fear of losing their positions,” he said, describing the purported statutory declarations were as valid as toilet paper.

“I am here to visit Mukhriz as a friend and as a Kedahan, not as a politician, because this is not merely an Umno issue, but a Kedah issue involving everyone,” he said.

Mahfuz, who claimed to know Mukhriz from young, said Mukhriz was a good MB who could perform his duty well if given the chance, but he was given too short a time.

“I don’t think Mukhriz will be easily swayed, nor will he easily bow to pressure. He’s not weak, he is very strong so I believe his future will be brighter after this,” he said.

Among those who visited Mukhriz at the house today included state executive councillors Datuk Aminuddin Omar and Datuk Suraya Yaacob.

Kedah Umno deputy chief Ahmad Bashah, who will be sworn in tomorrow, was announced today as the new state MB after the Kedah Regency Council met with all of the assemblymen in the state over the past two days.

In announcing his resignation, Mukhriz said the royal council had informed him that he had lost majority support in the state legislative assembly.