ALOR STAR: The swearing-in ceremony of the 13th Kedah Menteri Besar, scheduled to be held today, has been postponed to a new date.
This was confirmed by the Sultan of Kedah’s senior private secretary Datuk Elmi Yusoff in a statement here today.
He, however, did not elaborate on the new date for the ceremony.
Pakatan Harapan coalition which contested under the PKR symbol in the 14th General Election (GE14) is slated to form the new state government after securing 18 out of the 36 state seats in Kedah, defeating Barisan Nasional (BN) government which was reduced to just three state seats.
Speculation has been rife that Kedah PH chairman Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, also Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) deputy president, would be sworn in for the second time as the Menteri Besar.
Other candidates speculated for the post were PPBM's Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah, who retained his Anak Bukit state seat and Kedah PKR leadership adviser Datuk Johari Abdul who won the Gurun state seat.
It was understood that the four-party pact has shortlisted potential candidates for the post and Mukhriz is said to be on the list.
In a press conference to announce Kedah PH’s victory earlier today, Mukhriz confirmed that the pact has listed several names for the post.
However, he said the national PH leaders would make a decision on the matter.
PH had won 18 state seats in Kedah while Pas secured 15 seats and BN only managed to retain three out of the 21 state seats it held from the previous polls.
From the total seats won by the pact, PKR won eight state seats, PPBM (5), Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) (3) and DAP (2).