“We reject and protest against Sulaiman being named to lead the caretaker government as he lost the support needed to be chief minister before the legislative assembly was dissolved,” said the PH presidential council in a statement today.
It added that discussions should involve all parties to ensure that the Melaka constitution was upheld and respected by ensuring that any caretaker government was represented by the majority of lawmakers.
The discussions, the council added, should be held with the “majority” bloc led by PH’s Adly Zahari, the “minority” bloc led by Sulaiman and another bloc led by Idris Haron.
PH also said state elections should not be held at this time to prevent a fourth wave of Covid-19 cases.
Neither was declaring an emergency appropriate, it added.
“This will cause anxiety among investors at a time when efforts to revive the country’s economy are being intensified,” it said.
PH has been against the appointment of a caretaker government led by Sulaiman from the day of the dissolution. On Oct 5, Adly had threatened to take the matter to court.
However, Melaka state secretary Kamel Mohamad announced yesterday that Sulaiman would head the caretaker government, assisted by current members of the executive council, until a new government was formed.
“The caretaker government cannot make any binding decisions and policies, or take any action that has financial implications and burden the new government, unless the action is implemented in the public’s interest,” he said, according to Bernama.
“To that end, the caretaker government can take steps such as carrying out routine official duties, including exercising powers under the law to ensure the functioning of the state government machinery and holding official meetings on administrative matters.
“The caretaker government can also continue with existing policies and programmes for which financial allocations have already been made.
“It can also enter into any agreements, contracts and make undertakings based on policies which have been approved by the state government or provisions approved by the state assembly, such as the current year’s budget,” he said.