MALACCA POLLS | Idris Haron, Umno's former Malacca chief minister turned Pakatan Harapan's candidate for Asahan, said while many have blamed him for the snap polls in the state, his decision to withdraw support for Sulaiman Md Ali's Umno-Bersatu government was meant to achieve something "extraordinary".
Idris said his move, if not thwarted by his own party, would have seen the start of a cooperation between Umno and Harapan.
"When I withdrew support, I was blamed as the reason for today's state polls. But the fact was there was no need for state polls... just change the government.
"They (Harapan) would have let me led the state of Malacca which I have said would be extraordinary as Harapan comprising DAP, Amanah and PKR would be backing an Umno leader," he told Malaysiakini in an interview.
This, he said, would be a symbol of political harmony.
"But the strange thing was the central and state Umno leadership did not agree with the opposition supporting an Umno leader to lead.
"They swiftly sacked me because I did not want to use the Umno label (for the state government) that is supported by DAP, PKR and Amanah," he said.
Idris (above) had last month, along with three other assemblypersons at the time, withdrawn support for Sulaiman, costing him his majority.
The other three were Nor Azman Hassan (Pantai Kundor-Umno), Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Pengkalan Batu-independent) dan Noor Effandi Ahmad (Telok Mas-Bersatu). They have been sacked from their parties.
Prior to the withdrawal, Sulaiman had the support of 17 assemblypersons in the 28-member House but this was reduced to 13 with the withdrawal.
On the same day, a leaked letter showed Malacca Harapan chief Adly Zahari had written to the governor endorsing Idris as the new chief minister.
Adly's office had declined to comment on the matter during the Malacca election campaign, stating it was an "old matter".
Idris maintained that Sulaiman was and will be a "puppet" as the chief minister, repeating his claim that the true power player behind him is Malacca Umno chief Ab Rauf Yusoh. Ab Rauf has denied the claim.
Different standards
Idris lamented the attacks against him, stating that those who had done the same have not received the same heat.
For example, he said his action was no different from Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and BN advisory board chairperson Najib Abdul Razak withdrawing support for Muhyiddin Yassin, which led to his ouster as the prime minister in August.
"I am labelled a traitor and a frog but in the end, Umno fielded (PKR defector) Muhammad Jailani Khamis in Rembia, what is that?" he said.
Going into the Malacca polls, Harapan has endorsed Adly as its chief ministerial candidate while BN plans to renominate Sulaiman if it wins. PN has yet to announce its chief ministerial candidate.
Idris served as the chief minister of the BN state government from 2013 to 2018 while Adly the Harapan government's chief minister from 2018 until its collapse in 2020 due to defection.
Sulaiman's Umno-Bersatu government which took over in March 2020 also suffered the same fate last month.
In a bid to thwart Harapan coming back to power with the help of Idris' group, Sulaiman sought a dissolution of the state legislative assembly, paving the way for fresh polls.
Interestingly, the dissolution was not announced by Sulaiman but by Rauf, who was the state assembly speaker.
Idris is now contesting under a Harapan ticket in the state seat of Asahan, his hometown.
He is facing BN's Fairul Nizam, PN's Dhanesh Basil and independent candidates Mohd Noor Salleh, Azmar Ab Hamid and Mohd Akhir Ayob.
In the 2018 general election, Umno under the BN ticket won Asahan with a razor-thin majority of 275. The seat comprise 64 percent Malay, 23 percent Chinese, 11 percent Indians and two percent others.
The 12-day campaign for the Malacca polls will come to a close on Friday. Malaccans will go to the polls on Saturday (Nov 20).
