BN rep absent at Perlis palace attends briefing with MB

KANGAR: One of the nine Barisan Nasional state assemblymen who was absent at Istana Arau last Thursday attended a briefing with Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man at his official residence here.

It is learnt that Kayang assemblyman Hamizan Hassan, who was one of the Barisan elected representatives absent at the swearingin ceremony for the mentri besar, was at the official residence for a briefing on the Umno assembly and official opening of the Kangar Umno division clustered meeting of its branches and wings.

Hamizan said he attended the briefing in his capacity as the Kangar Umno Youth head and his responsibility as an elected representative.

“The mentri besar and I are both from the same division and the purpose of the meeting was to discuss matters pertaining to Umno activities in the division,” he said.

However, when asked whether his attendance demonstrated his support for the appointment of Azlan as the mentri besar, he said: “I obey what the Tuanku (Raja Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail) said.”

Last Thursday, nine Barisan assemblymen were absent at Istana Arau as they claimed that Azlan’s appointment as the mentri besar did not get the majority support of the Barisan assemblymen.

On the other hand, they were with state Barisan chairman Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim in Kuala Lumpur, and Shahidan later held a media conference announcing the proposal to expel Azlan from the party.

Meanwhile, party vicepresident Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein slammed the move to expel Azlan from Umno.

He said Azlan’s reappointment for a second term must be respected as Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin had considered all aspects of the appointment.

“The mentri besar crisis and the proposed move to sack Azlan from Umno should not have happened,” he said in a Facebook posting on Friday night.

He said the expulsion of an Umno member from the party was the prerogative of the supreme council upon recommendation by the disciplinary board, and not the state liaison committee chairman.

“The people have given us the mandate to rule Perlis and the trust they placed on us must be honoured,” Hishammuddin said.