“Not true,” he said, according to Utusan Malaysia, when asked to verify rumours that he would be stepping down.

This comes after a media report that Sulaiman would be resigning on Jan 3 to make way for Melaka Umno chief Ab Rauf Yusoh.

This is the second time that Sulaiman has been speculated to be relinquishing his post after Melaka’s state polls last November.

Rauf, the Tanjung Bidara assemblyman, was linked to efforts to take over the post but had repeatedly denied such allegations.

On May 12, Sulaiman had denied claims that he had resigned as the chief minister after an Umno division head alleged that the Lendu assemblyman had been coerced into signing a resignation letter.

Sulaiman said these claims were made up to disrupt the stability of the state government which he had been leading since Barisan Nasional’s win in the state election on Nov 20 last year.

Sulaiman was an exco member when BN led the state government between 2013 and 2018.

He became the chief minister in March 2020 as the head of an Umno-PN government formed after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.