Mahathir’s son Mukhriz resigns as Kedah chief minister
ALOR SETAR: The son of Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad resigned as the Kedah Menteri Besar yesterday.
Just over two years after taking the top job in the state, Mr Mukhriz Mahathir lost his grip on power after two Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) assemblymen jumped ship and pledged their support to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.
"With this announcement, I relinquish my position with immediate effect," Mr Mukhriz said.
With his exit, the Parti Islam SeMalaysia once again returned to power, paving the way for Jeneri assemblyman Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor to take over as Kedah's new Menteri Besar.
Mr Sanusi was sworn in before Kedah ruler Sultan Sallehuddin Ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah yesterday at Wisma Darul Aman in Alor Setar.
Last Tuesday, the two assemblymen from PKR, Azman Nasrudin, who represents the Lunas seat, and Dr Robert Ling Kui Ee, who represents Sidam, quit the party and threw their support behind the PN government.
LOST CONFIDENCE
On the same day, Mr Sanusi announced that 19 out of 36 Kedah assemblymen had lost confidence in Mr Mukhriz's leadership.
Talk then started circulating that Mr Sanusi was the man for the top job after 23 state assemblymen proposed him as the new Menteri Besar.
The fall of the Kedah state assembly to the PN followed those of Johor, Melaka and Perak states recently.
These developments took place in the last two months after the toppling of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition at the federal level in late February, when Tun Dr Mahathir unexpectedly resigned on Feb 24.
With Kedah gone, PH will retain only the state assemblies of Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan, while its political ally Parti Warisan Sabah continues to rule Sabah state.
PN will rule the other nine of Malaysia's 13 states.
Mr Mukhriz, 55, had continued as Kedah's Menteri Besar under the PH, but with a smaller majority after PN took over at the federal level. - THE STAR
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