Lunas assemblyman stripped of his exco post

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ALOR SETAR: The Lunas assemblyman Mohd Radzhi Salleh has been stripped of his state executive council post by the Sultan of Kedah Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak said the Sultan made his decision on Aug 25, one day after receiving a letter from Azizan urging the Sultan to strip Mohd Radzhi of his state executive council post.

It is the prerogative of the Sultan to nominate or strip someone of the state executive council and in this case the Sultan has accepted our reason for stripping Mohd Radzhi because he is no longer representing any of the Pakatan Rakyat component parties, he said in a press conference here Wednesday.

Also attending the press conference was the state PKR chairman Ahmad Kassim.

He said the state secretary office would inform Mohd Radzhi of the Sultan’s decision.

On Sunday, Mohd Radzhi announced he was quitting PKR to become an independent member of the Kedah legislative assembly.

The Tourism, Community Development and Human Resources Committee chairman had said he would retain his exco post as the appointment was made by the Sultan.

Azizan on Monday had sought audience with the Sultan to hand over a letter urging that the Sultan to strip Mohd Radzhi from his exco post.

Azizan said that the Sultan has also accepted a proposal to nominate Kulim assemblyman Lim Soo Nee to replace Mohd Radzhi in the state exco line-up.

He added that the swearing in ceremony for Lim would be held next week.

Lim’s name was proposed after my discussion with PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“We choose Lim because we want someone from southern Kedah to sit in the state executive council,” he said.

On a similar note, Azizan said that he planned to make some adjustment to the portfolios held by all state exco members following the appointment of Lim to the state exco line-up.

He said the changes would only be announced after the swearing in ceremony.

He also said that he would appoint one of the Pakatan assemblymen to monitor the Lunas state constituency following Mohd Radzhi decision to quit the party.

Lim, 37, defeated Barisan Nasional candidate Lim Lee Choo and independent candidate Khairul Anuar Ramli with a majority of 1,244 votes in the 2008 general election.

Lim who joined PKR since 2000 is the state PKR assistant information chief.