Penang Umno Youth wants the state chief minister post to be rotated among Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties and will move a resolution calling for this at the state Umno division meet.

According to a party source, at least 10 of the 13 Umno Youth movements in the state have agreed to table the resolution at their respective meets next week, before raising the matter at the division level.

"Penang Umno feels the time has come for the chief minister post to be rotated among the component parties in BN which hold the majority seats in the state assembly," he said.

Umno which controls 14 of the 40 state seats should be given the chance to hold the post, he stressed when contacted

The remaining seats are controlled by Gerakan (13), MCA (9) and MIC (2). Opposition parties DAP and PAS hold a seat each.

The current chief minister, Dr Koh Tsu Khoon, is the vice-president of the predominantly Chinese Gerakan.

Dr M rejected it

Meanwhile, the source said the resolution is expected to be accepted at the division meet and subsequently brought to the Umno annual general assembly by the state liaison committee.

Umno division meets started yesterday and will go on until Sept 10 whereas Penang Unmo Youth movements will hold their respective meets starting Aug 12.

According to the source, this is the first time the rotation issue will be brought to the Umno general assembly which is expected to be held later this year.

"This is the wish of the Umno grassroots. We feel it is a reasonable request since Umno is the strongest BN component party in this state. Penang Umno also performed commendably in the last polls compared to MCA and Gerakan," he said

In the 2004 polls, Umno contested in 15 seats, of which it lost one. On the other hand, Gerakan won all the seats it had contested while MCA also lost one of the 10 seats it contested.

The source said Umno members hope by bringing the rotation issue to the Umno annual general assembly, BN leaders will pay attention to the wishes of the Malay community in Penang.

"This is not a new issue. There were already calls (previously) for an Umno leader to be appointed to head the state government but (former premier) Dr Mahathir Mohamad turned it down.

"We hope the government headed by (Prime Minister) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will seriously consider this resolution," he added.