Claims of ‘sacking’ by Johor Speaker’s son mere gossip

PETALING JAYA: Claims of a movement to topple Johor Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin by a group loyal to Prime Minister Najib Razak, purportedly led by a deputy minister, is mere gossip.

In commenting on the rumour which he described as nonsensical, Deputy Transport Minister Aziz Kaprawi said a deputy minister did not qualify for the MB post as he or she was a Member of Parliament (MP), while an MB was selected from the crop of assemblymen.

“If an MP wanted to become an assemblyman, then one of the current Johor assemblymen would have to resign to pave the way for the MP to stand in a state constituency,” he said, adding the assemblyman who resigned would not be able to stand in an election for five years.

He explained that a by-election must be held more than two years before the current state assembly ends in 2018.

“Now we are a month away from reaching the third year of the current term. Having a by-election requires comprehensive preparations from all competing parties. It cannot be done hurriedly, it is not as simple or easy as that,” he told FMT, adding that people should not entertain illogical gossip.

The Sri Gading MP was also confident Najib would not take the risk of changing an MB before a general election as it would not be a wise move and would only bring more problems for Umno.

Similarly, Johor Umno Youth Chief Hahasrin Hashim also dismissed the rumour, saying it was rubbish and a waste of time.

He said Khaled had done a lot for the state, and cited Johor’s Gross Domestic Product that grew 6.5%, to total RM93.7 billion alone in 2014, as well as other programmes such as the Suara Hati Johor Plan, Johor Strategic Growth Plan and the state budget which had fulfilled the people’s needs.

Yesterday, Umno member Shukur Mohamad, who is the son of Johor Speaker Mohamad Aziz, caused a stir when he claimed there was a movement underway to replace Khaled for having allegedly failed to prevent state Umno branch leaders from opposing Najib.

There are six deputy ministers from Johor besides Aziz. They are Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Razali Ibrahim; Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Hamim Samuri; Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed; Deputy Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Halimah Sadique; and Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Ahmad Maslan.

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