Not unusual to replace MB, says Salleh

PETALING JAYA: A cabinet minister has drawn parallels between the removal of Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir as Kedah mentri besar with what happened previously in other states.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak gave the example of the Selangor crisis in 2014 involving Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim who was replaced.
"Selangor in 2014 is a classic example. When mentri besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim no longer saw eye-to-eye with the party leadership, they replaced him," he was reported as saying in Malaysiakini.
"And they signed statutory declarations, which they sent to the Selangor Sultan to prove that Khalid no longer had the majority support of his party," Salleh said.
During the crisis, known as the "Kajang Move", PKR had hoped to replace Khalid with its president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, though the initial speculation was that the by-election was engineered to bring in former opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as mentri besar.
But with Anwar's imprisonment for a sodomy offence, the Selangor palace objected to Wan Azizah being made MB.
Subsequently, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali was appointed as mentri besar.
In an email interview with Malaysiakini, Salleh was also asked if Mukhriz was ousted due to the incessant attacks by his father, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
To this, Salleh replied that apart from Selangor, similar situations had taken place in Terengganu and Johor, after the mentris besar openly attacked the prime minister and party president.
"There is not a single state that has not seen its mentri besar replaced. In some of these cases, it was because of the displeasure of the state ruler. Perak, Terengganu, Negri Sembilan and Pahang are some examples," he added.
Responding to another question, the former Sabah chief minister also dismissed speculation that changing the mentri besar at this juncture could be detrimental to Barisan Nasional.
"The Selangor mentri besar was replaced after just one year in office (following the 2013 general election) in 2014.
"Are you saying that Pakatan Harapan is going to lose Selangor in the next general election because they kicked Khalid out?" he asked.