Sunday, March 09, 2008

New State Governments Formed

The opposition have formed coalition governments in Perak, Penang, Kedah ad Selangor.

PAS, DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), which are set to form a coalition government in Perak, have agreed to nominate Perak PAS Liaison Secretary Ir Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin as Menteri Besar.
Mohammad Nizar, who won the Pasir Panjang state seat, told Bernama that the decision was made by leaders of the three parties early today.
"The agreement was based on the spirit of cooperation among the three parties, which want to set up a coalition government in Perak,” he said when contacted by Bernama regarding the choice of Perak Menteri Besar.

In Penang, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is expected to take over the Chief Minister's post.
DAP won 19 of the 40 seats in Penang.

Lim said he would be sworn in after the party and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) which won nine state seats, making a total of 28, form the state government with more than a two-thirds majority. Pas retained Permatang Pauh but lost four others.

In Kedah, state Pas commissioner Azizan Abdul Razak, 64, is expected to be sworn in as the new Kedah Menteri Besar at Wisma Darul Aman today.

Pas has the majority in the State Legislative Assembly in the 12th general election with 16 seats while Parti Keadilan Rakyat won four and DAP and an independent won one each while the Barisan Nasional won 14, of the 36 seats.

In Selangor, PKR has named Khalid Ibrahim as Menteri Besar.

10 comments:

Hi&Lo said...

Nuraina,

The best thing post-election is the agreement of the winning parties to let PAS ADUN to be the MB of Perak.

DAP's endorsement of PAS is a great milestone. For a party that fights tooth and nail for secular state, it has risen above parochial interest in the interest of goodwill. The two parties are like oil and water.

This also augurs well for PAS cos Perak is more diverse than Kelantan, Kedah, Perlis and Trengganu. It exposes different realities for PAS to meet the needs and aspirations of non-Muslims on a larger scale.

We need trust building across the socio-political divide. It's a win-win situation for the new coalition.

Anonymous said...

My sincere wishes to the new State Governments of Penang, Kedah, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan. The new era has started. We Malaysians of all race and religion stand united as Malaysians behind you. It is our sincere hope and aspirations to see a honest, fair and responsible governance from you.

This a part of speech made by John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech for the Democratic Party nomination for President in 1960, which is fitting for this historic day, ''We stand today united on the edge of a new frontier, a frontier full of challenges".

You could prove to the BN government and the Rakyat, and GOD's willing in the next election we could wipe out the BN.

Anonymous said...

Dear Nuraini
Not all happy when PAS fill in Perak MB. Some Chinese voters already felt disappointed. This show how rapuh we are when it come to racial harmony. Anywsy, the most that bind us all is economy or business, esp. to my fellow Chinese. Will the PAS MB in Perak deliver or there will be more chaos.

Anonymous said...

Nuraina,
Many of my friends are already up in arms over the possible appointment of a PAS MB of Perak. We did not vote for PAS in Perak. Pas only has 6 seats, whereas DAP has 18 seats and PKR 7 seats. The majority of the rakyat has voted for secularism. As a matter of principle, we do not want an MB from an Islamic party. The MB should be from DAP(being the largest party in the new coliation) and irrespective of his/her skin colour(Bangsa Malaysia). If the MB-ship really went to PAS, I can be sure that some of the DAP/PKR seats will go the BN way in the next election and BN will win back the state. The MCA/Gerakan will make hell of a big issue out of it to win back some seats in the next election.

Anonymous said...

With A PAS MB in Perak,
- DEMOCRACY is dead.
- RULE OF LAW is dead.

DEMO- CRAZY is alive.

DAP will be dead the next election.
Just watch.
Chinese don't forget so easily!

burhanlong said...

Anonymous,

You should by now understand the word "kingmaker". PAS is now playing that role in Perak.If you do not give that post to them, they will just opt out of the coalition and the result of that is BN forms the govt. Will that make DAP Perak supporters happier than having a PAS MB?

Anonymous said...

Nuraina
I am from the ethnicity of Chinese and I live in Perak. My whole family basically supports any leader from the opposition parties to be the MB of Perak, be it the leader from PAS. I think, this is the crucial time for all races to come together to realize both the political and social savvy about building a new era for the nation of Malaysia (Bangsa Malaysia). Of course not all Chinese would think like my family does, but I believe time will prove that leader from any opposition parties from the new coalition government would perform way better than the previous state government especially in terms of transparency and constructiveness in improving racial harmony and helping the poor.

Anonymous said...

Undang2 Tubuh Negeri stipulates that an MB in the Sultanate states must be Muslim thus the dilemma. And with only the Sultan (or in this case, the Regent) can overturn this decision, which I don't think he will, probably for the interest of the Malay-dominated northern regions of Perak. UMNO still hold 25 state seats after all. Also because of the Majlis Raja-Raja meetings problem as well, where the Sultans & the MBs discuss on state religious affairs.

Obviously some give-n-take happened behind the scene. Probably something along the line of a PAS MB for DAP deputy MB + more exco seats.

This is the true test of the DAP/PKR/PAS coalition as a whole, where it will make or break them.

Hussin said...

This is a real test of the coalition especially the leadership of DAP. Trying to convince their supporters that despite winning the most seats in Perak, they are not able to have their own as an MB would be a monumental task. To make it worse, the most suitable is deemed to be from PAS. But if they manage to do this, with the minimum damage, then the days of BN will be numbered. It is risky but the rewards will be enormous.

My fellow Malaysians especially the Chinese, please give this arrangement a really good chance to succeed. I'm confident, you will not be disappointed. After all, you have bravely decided to end the reign of the previous government after 50 long years. I'm sure it cannot be any worse because your team will be a MAJOR part of the government.

burhanlong said...

Nuraina et al,

Slowly, slowly does it. Do not push the Perak Malays too fast. (Remember that Umno had the biggest number of seats in previous Penang state assembly but the CM post went to Gerakan anyway).They (Perak Malays) are not as politically savvy as Kelang Valley Malays. The coalition is still very fragile. Push hard, it will break. And no prize for guessing who will be laughing.