Umno supreme council member Idris Haron has been appointed the new chief minister of Malacca, replacing Mohd Ali Rustam who had administered the state for 14 years.

He took the oath of office this morning before Malacca governor Khalil Yaakob.

NONE Idris (right) , 46, the Tangga Batu Umno division chief,  was elected as the Sungai Udang assemblyperson with a majority exceeding 9,000 votes.

Born in Pekan Asahan, Jasin, he is an engineer by training. He previously worked in Tenaga Nasional Bhd, and was a former chairperson of Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd and a deputy higher education minister.

Mohd Ali was defeated in the Bukit Katil parliamentary seat by PKR Youth leader Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin by more than 5,000 votes in Sunday's general election.

He has blamed his defeat on the people, especially the Chinese, for not voting based on meritocracy.

PAS, PKR get foothold in Malacca

Mohd Ali, who is the head of the Bukit Katil Umno division, which is responsible for the parliamentary constituency, saw three out of four state seats under Bukit Katil fall to the opposition, including Bachang and Ayer Keroh, which were defended by the DAP's Lim Jak Wong and Khoo Poay Tiong.

Besides PKR, which won its first seat in Malacca through Shamsul Iskandar, PAS also gained a foothold in the state with Dr Mohd Khalid Kassim in Bukit Baru.

Khalid, a former Malacca Hospital deputy director, won with a majority of 44 votes. Ironically, the Malacca Hospital is also within the Bukit Baru state constituency that he won.

This is the worst showing for Malacca BN and it will certainly be a big challenge for Idris and his state executive council.