Veteran Umno leader Mohamad Ali Rustam has been endorsed as Malacca’s appointee to the Dewan Negara, over protests from the opposition bench in the state assembly.

NONE The motion for Ali's appointment as senator was tabled by Idris Haron (right) , who is Ali Rustam’s protege and successor as chief minister.

Contacted after the sitting, the DAP’s Ayer Keroh assemblyperson Khoo Poay Tiong said the motion was passed along partisan lines, by 21 to 7 votes, despite the opposition making its case against the controversial leader.

"Ali Rustam's appointment is tantamount to ignoring the will of the people as he was defeated with a huge majority in the parliamentary constituency of Bukit Katil,” Khoo said.

"Even though he accused the Chinese (Malaysian) community of causing his defeat, Bukit Katil is a mixed seat that is representative of all races - and everyone rejected him.”

Ali Rustam had suffered a surprising defeat in Bukit Katil, by a 5,447-vote majority in the 13th general election on May 5. The voters comprise 53 percent Malays, 41 percent Chinese and six percent Indians.

NONE Khoo (left) , whose constituency is a state seat under Bukit Katil, said other than Ali's racist vitriol following his loss, he is tainted as he was punished for money politics ih the last Umno elections.

He alleged that after Ali became chief minister in 1999, the state's cash reserves shrunk from RM234 million to a meagre RM8 million by 2011.

"For these reasons, we said there are other Umno leaders who are more qualified to be appointed as senator, but the BN representatives insisted that Ali would be a good choice," Khoo added.

Ali was chief minister for almost 14 years. He was the Bukit Baru assemblyperson but moved to contest a parliamentary seat in GE13, in the hope of joining federal politics.

The Bukit Baru seat fell to PAS, giving the party its first-ever victory in Malacca.