THE Malacca government has suffered the embarrassment of becoming the first incumbent state administration in the country’s history to have failed to get its candidate elected to the Senate.

Halim Bachik failed to get elected after Pakatan Harapan could not secure the numbers needed in the 28-seat assembly.

The staunch Anwar Ibrahim supporter secured 12 votes from PH but the remaining 13 Barisan Nasional members voted against him.

It is not known if Chief Minister Adly Zahari will propose his name again at a later date.

Under the system to appoint members to the 70-member Senate, 26 representatives are picked by the state assemblies, while the other 44 are appointed by the King, including four appointed to represent the federal territories.

Halim would have been elected if PH had fielded a full complement of assemblymen.

Ginie Lim (Machap Jaya) and Muhammad Jailani Khamis (Rembia) were absent, while Gadek assemblyman G. Saminathan is currently being held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 for alleged involvement with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Immediately after Halim’s name was rejected, speaker Omar Jaafar adjourned the sitting.

Adly told a press conference later that his government will undertake a post-mortem into the defeat and determine why the two PKR assemblymen were absent.

“I did not expect this decision but I do not see any elements of sabotage,” he said. – November 25, 2019.