Ahmad Faizal: Bersatu still with Perikatan after confidence vote, likely change in MB’s post only

IPOH, Dec 4 — After losing a confidence vote at the State Assembly today, Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said he believes there will not be a transition in government, but rather a change of mentri besar only.

Ahmad Faizal, who is also the state Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairman, said that the party will remain with the Perak Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition despite half of the no-confidence votes coming from the PN bloc.

“The PN government is a good government and accepted by the people. Thus, I believe the momentum should continue and be maintained,” he told reporters when met at the State Secretariat Building.

“Even until this morning, all our government administrative affairs were going well. It’s not that they think my leadership is bad, but maybe some among us might believe that they are more qualified to sit in the mentri besar’s chair and I accept the decision wholeheartedly,” he added.

Ahmad Faizal also urged state Bersatu members to accept his fate with an open heart.

Earlier today, Ahmad Faizal lost a motion of confidence that was tabled against him at the state legislative assembly.

Perak Speaker Datuk Mohammad Zahir Abdul Kalid announced the results showing that 48 assemblymen had voted against Ahmad Faizal, while only 10 supported him.

“A total of 59 voting ballots were received on the motion. Ten votes were in support of the mentri besar and 48 were against him, while another vote was damaged,” he said.

Ahmad Faizal said he will seek an audience with the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, today at 5pm at Istana Kinta here.

“The Sultan needs to make a decision to choose one of us whom he trusts and receives a majority (of votes from assemblymen) to form a state government. It needs to be done immediately to get our state Budget 2021 approved.

“When I seek an audience with the Sultan, I can advise him to dissolve the state government, but the situation is still not conducive for a state election.

“So what should I do? I should be a nice person, be quiet and give my support to whoever the Sultan picks,” he said.

When asked whether he had anticipated the no-confidence motion, Ahmad Faizal said he has faced such moves since the day he was appointed as the mentri besar.

“I may look calm right now, but deep inside I feel uneasy because I’m worried about the state’s Budget which is supposed to be tabled this afternoon.

“The motion of confidence against me should have been done after I tabled the Budget. But it did not happen. I think we should not talk about a power transition, but about helping the people,” he said.

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