Kedah MB Azizan Abdul Razak has dropped two apparent dissidents from his exco lineup.

The dropped duo are said to be Kedah PAS deputy commissioner I, Phahrolrazi Zawawi and Kedah PAS deputy commissioner II, Ismail Salleh.

   

Phahrolrazi is the exco member for Housing, Local Government, Works, Utilities and Energy while Ismail’s portfolio is Health, non-governmental organisations, Human Capital Development, Science and Innovation and Information and Communications Technology.

Prior to this, there had been rumours that two existing exco members would be declining their re-appointment.

      

It is believed they are frustrated with the attitude and leadership of Azizan, who is also the state PAS commissioner, on various issues affecting his administration in recent years.

Azizan had told Bernama in Alor Setar today that only eight Kedah exco members will be sworn in for the 2012 term on Tuesday,

Technical problem

He said there would be no new faces in the line-up for Tuesday and that two more exco members would be appointed down the road with the possibility they might not have their current portfolios.

   

"I have finalised the list, only there is a slight technical problem in terms of the law because the current exco members will be completing their terms on March 7.

   

"That is why we cannot swear in 10 exco members on Tuesday as there will be 12 exco members then (because of the March 7 term ending)... if not enough exco members it is okay, the Kedah constitution does not allow for more than 10 (exco members)," Azizan explained.

Azizan said all exco members to be appointed had the right to decline appointment and that the state government did not have any problems filling the vacancies as many had offered to take up the posts.    

   

"They can reject their appointments, then I will appoint those who want the posts. The names have been submitted to Tuanku (Sultan of Kedah)," he said.

Umno circling over PAS

Azizan had earlier announced that he has the right to select his state exco members without prior consultations with the central PAS leadership, selecting candidates on his own before submitting them to the Kedah Sultan for approval.

The menteri besar had come into conflict with the Islamic party’s central leadership before this, in particular with his support of the use of the University and University College Act (UUCA) which saw several students suspended from state-run Kolej University Insaniah (Kuin).

This was problematic as opposition to the UUCA is part of the Pakatan’s Buku Jingga list of promises.

Meanwhile, Kedah Umno said that it had nothing to do with the ongoing political crisis in the PAS-led Kedah state government.

Umno vice-president Mohd Shafie Apdal, formerly the Malay party’s Kedah liaison chief, said that they are closely monitoring the situation because it was related to their struggle in Kedah.

    

"The rift in Kedah among state PAS leaders is true but we will wait and see what happens," he told reporters in Butterworth, Penang today

Shafie added that the coalition made up of DAP, PAS and PKR was fragile.