JITRA: There is no need to dissolve the Kedah state assembly at this time, and the state government will continue to be led by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Pakatan Harapan (PH), said Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Mahathir.
He said the current state government would maintain the status quo until the next general election and that it had also been agreed to by the opposition in the state.
"As Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor (Opposition leader of the Kedah state assembly) had said, we have reached a consensus that in Kedah it is status quo, meaning no change, so even though Bersatu at the national level has left PH, but in Kedah, we are pragmatic in nature.
"If a change is necessary (in the administration of the state government), we all have agreed to leave it until the 15th General Election because the people need to be given the right to make a choice," he told reporters after presenting study and death benefits to recipients in the Jitra state assembly constituency here, today.
He said the Kedah Pas had also received the blessing from the party's top leadership on the position that needed to be taken at the state level and they too did not want to be hasty to change the existing state government.
Mukhriz said that, unlike other states, Kedah has its own way of managing the current political situation, besides, continuing to maintain good relations with all quarters including the opposition.
"What ever is happening at the central level, Kedah does not have to follow what is happening at the national level, because everyone wants a peaceful political climate in Kedah and the existing state government can continue to serve the people.
"(In addition,) the opposition's role also still exists as a check and balance and, as such, the ‘jumpings’ of PH and Bersatu state assemblymen to the opposition do not occur," he said.
In the meantime, Mukhriz said the Kedah state assembly sitting, scheduled on March 23, would proceed as planned. -- BERNAMA