An aspect they cited was that the relatively smooth move to oust Mukhriz had left the state administration intact, unlike the Barisan Nasional takeover of Perak a few years back.

The change in menteri besars also did not necessitate the holding of fresh polls in the state.

Speaking to Malay Mail Online (MMO), Dr Ooi Keng Beng, deputy director of the Singapore-based Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas) Yusof Ishak Institute, said the incident did not affect the daily lives of Kedahans much.

“Loss of confidence in the leader does not mean a new election. It just means state assemblymen from the majority party have to choose a new leader and get the Sultan’s consent,” he said, adding that the Kedah MB ouster was “purely internal” as opposed to the situation in Perak that saw the defection of three assemblymen.

The portal also spoke to Dr Oi Ei Sun, a senior fellow at S Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, who described the Kedah manoeuvre as “part and parcel of parliamentary democracy”.

He said that the Kedah crisis showed that a menteri besar’s position was never fully secure and that it could be challenged at any time.

Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian, meanwhile, was of the opinion that Mukhriz’s removal did not really affect the state administration as the new MB was still aligned with the federal government. He also said the state’s civil service could function as normal.