Tuesday May 14, 2013

MCA man may be in Johor exco line-up

JOHOR BARU: One Chinese state assemblyman will be sworn in as Johor executive councillor along with eight other Barisan Nasional representatives today, in line with the Sultan of Johor’s wish to see the community represented in the state government.

It is learnt that the assemblyman would be MCA national organising secretary and Pulai Sebatang assemblyman Datuk Tee Siew Kiong (pic).

Permas state assemblyman Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin is expected to be sworn in before Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar in a ceremony at Bangunan Sultan Ibrahim in Bukit Timbalan.

The Sultan’s private secretary Jaba Mohd Noah said the ruler wanted a Chinese representative in the exco to ensure the community was not neglected or left out in the state.

“Tuanku sees the Chinese, Indians, Malays and other races in the state as his loyal subjects. For his majesty, nothing is more important than to see all races living harmoniously and working together for a common cause,” he said.

The state’s nine exco members are also expected to take their oaths together at the same ceremony.

Johor Royal Council secretary Datuk Rahim Ramlee said the Sultan had absolute power to appoint the mentri besar together with the exco members.

Sources said Mahkota assemblyman Md Jais Sarday and Johor Lama assemblyman Asiah Ariff are the only two former excos who will be retained in the new line-up while Gambir assemblyman M. Asojan is expected be dropped and replaced by Kahang assemblyman R. Vidya nanthan.

The new faces are Datuk Hasni Mohammad (Benut), Abd Muta- lip Abd Rahim (Layang-Layang), Abd Latiff Bandi (Endau), Mohd Ismail Roslan (Semerah), and Datuk Zulkurnain Kamisan (Sri Medan).

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