The Malaysian Insight

THERE are elements of sabotage at work to stop Anwar Ibrahim’s choice as a senator from Malacca, said PKR sources.

They said this after a motion to nominate Malacca PKR chief Halim Bachik as senator failed in the state assembly yesterday.

The failure is a continuation of the fallout between PKR president Anwar and his deputy, Mohamed Azmin Ali, they said.

Halim yesterday failed to get the state assembly’s nod to become a senator after members of the house rejected the nomination.

According to the party sources, the state Pakatan Harapan failed to get a majority vote after two of its assemblymen were absent during the vote for Halim.

“We do know that YB Ginie Lim is a strong Azmin supporter,” said one source.

“Jailani (Khamis) also supports Azmin. The two state reps were not present when the chief minister (Adly Zahari) proposed Hamim’s name,” the source said.

Halim, 49, received only 12 votes from 25 assemblymen.

None of the opposition 13 Barisan Nasional assemblymen – all from Umno – voted for him.

The two PH/PKR absentees were Machap Jaya assemblyman Lim and Rembia assemblyman Muhammad Jailani Khamis.

The other missing assemblyman is a DAP’s G. Saminathan (Gadek) who is still in police custody as a suspect in Tamil Tigers probe.

“It’s simple,” said another source. “They don’t want Anwar’s senatorial candidate to win. Anwar previously lobbied for Halim’s name for the senatorial post,” the source said.

Meanwhile, Sg Udang assemblyman Idris Haron denied that the 13 Umno assemblymen tried to sabotage Halim’s nomination.

He disputed PKR’s Klebang assemblyman Gue Teck’s claim in a debate blaming BN.

“We did not sabotage the candidate proposed by the chief minister. We reject the Klebang assemblyman’s accusation against BN.

“I didn’t plan anything. I don’t even get along with Jailani and I don’t even greet Ginie,” the former Malacca chief minister told The Malaysian Insight.

Adly proposed Halim as senator, describing the Tg Bidara coordinator as a responsible individual.

Malacca speaker Omar Jaafar adjourned the hearing after the house rejected Adly’s proposal to appoint Halim as senator.

The Malaysian Insight is attempting to contact Lim and Jailani for their comments. – November 26, 2019.