State PH leaders announced today that Bersatu leaders and members will cease to be a party in the state government, local councils, village committees and state agencies.
Speaking to a press conference, Selangor mentri besar Datuk Seri Amarudin Shari said that the purge of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) leaders and members from all positions of the state administration starts today.
“Therefore, all Bersatu leaders and members are no longer involved with the state’s administration. These include the excos, local authorities, village chiefs, state-owned companies as well as the political network,” said Amirudin.
“The cooperation with the federal government will continue as usual according to the principles of federalism based on the Federal Constitution.”
Currently, the Sungai Tua state rep commands the confidence of 43 state assemblymen. The Opposition, which now includes Bersatu, Umno, PAS and independent, holds 13 seats in total.
In a show of strength and solidarity, Amirudin was flanked today by a large number of PH assemblypersons. However, notably absent were PKR’s Idris Ahmad (Ijok), Rodziah Ismail (Batu Tiga) and Syamsul Firdaus (Taman Medan).
Out of the 10 exco positions, one has been vacated and Amirudin is still in the process of appointing the replacement for the Bersatu member. At the moment, three of the exco positions belong to DAP, four to PKR and two to Amanah.
Although Amirudin was known to be part of former rogue PKR leader Datuk Seri Azmin Ali’s faction, he seemed to have turned his back on his erstwhile ally.
When asked of his allegiance to Azmin, who is also the Gombak MP, Amirudin said that his loyalty lies with the party instead of his former boss.
“I’m a party man. I’m not a bad man. I’m a party man,” he said.
“I’m with PKR now. I’m with him (Azmin) as long as he is with PKR. When he left the party, I am still with the party as I promised in my election campaign. That’s why they (PH lawmakers) are here with me. They are committed to PKR and support PKR and PH.”
Pressed if he was concerned about a campaign within the party to purge “traitors” – understood as those aligned to Azmin – the menteri besar remarked that such a campaign is unnecessary.
“We have already fired them. We have fired Hilman, we have fired (former vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin’s aide) Nor Hizwan Ahmad, we have fired Zuraida and others […]
Touching on the possibility of being ousted from the state government, Amirudin said he cannot stop the backdoor political maneuvering but hopes that those involved in such discussions will have learnt the lesson that played out at the federal level.
Last week, angry PKR supporters had accosted Amirudin outside the party headquarters in Petaling Jaya over his links with Azmin.
Meanwhile, four Selangor Bersatu reps have declared their support for the PH state government despite their party leaving the pact last week.
The four – Sallehuddin Amiruddin (Kuang), Mohd Shaid Rosli (Jeram), Harumaini Omar (Batang Kali) and Adhif Syan Abdullah (Dengkil) – said their decision was made after discussions with Dr Mahathir.
The Selangor government has already announced that it has ceased to work with Bersatu.
However, the four Bersatu men were reported as saying that they would hold talks with Amirudin on ways to work together.
The four are aligned to Dr Mahathir’s faction in the party. Majority of others are supporters of Muhyiddin Yassin.
Dr Mahathir remains aligned to PH.
Sallehudin said the four of them met Dr Mahathir in Putrajaya today on their status in Selangor.
“We sought his views and arising for that conversation, we have decided to support the PH government in Selangor.
“We will be meeting with menteri besar Amirudin tomorrow to discuss on how we can return to the state administration,” he told reporters at Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya.
Shaid said they remained loyal to Bersatu and would not leave the party to become independents.
The status of the fifth Bersatu assemblyperson is unknown. Abdul Rashid Asari (Selat Kelang), who is also state Bersatu chief, is believed to be overseas and can’t be contacted.