IPOH, Dec 14 — Portfolios will be assigned to the Perak state executive councillors only after all 10 of them have been appointed, new Mentri Besar Datuk Saarani Mohamad said today.
Getting the already-appointed five councillors to take charge of more than one portfolio will stretch their resources and weaken the administration, he told a press conference after chairing a state executive council meeting at Bangunan Perak Darul Ridzuan, here.
“We will only assign the portfolios once all the 10 executive councillors have been appointed because, based on the experience in 2009 when councillors took charge of more than one portfolio, we will be crippled,” he said.
Last Thursday, five assemblymen were sworn in as state executive councillors before the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Shah, at Istana Iskandariah in Kuala Kangsar.
Four of them were councillors in the previous administration, namely Datuk Zolkafly Harun (BN-Lintang); Datuk Shahrul Zaman Yahya (BN-Rungkup); Datuk Wan Norashikin Wan Noordin (BN-Kampung Gajah) and Khairul Shahril Mohamed (BN-Bota).
Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin (Bersatu-Sungai Manik) is a new face.
The Perak state exco line-up was dissolved after Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu resigned as the mentri besar on December 5 following his defeat in a confidence vote a day earlier in the state legislative assembly.
Ahmad Faizal garnered 10 votes in favour and 48 against with one abstention after the motion was tabled by Datuk Abd Manap Hashim (BN-Pengkalan Baru). — Bernama