BARISAN Nasional may have won Perlis confidently in the 14th general election, but more than two weeks after the polls, it is still unable to form a state government as discord rages within Umno over who should be menteri besar.

The stalemate over Azlan Man, who was sworn in as menteri besar on Thursday, comes down to how state BN and Umno head Shahidan Kassim wants his brother, Tambun Tulang assemblyman Ismail Kassim, to be menteri besar instead of the palace’s choice of Azlan, the Bintong representative and menteri besar incumbent.

Ismail said Perlis Umno was not budging from Shahidan’s stand until Azlan stepped down.

But as a way out of the stalemate, Ismail added that he needed not be the menteri besar.

“Our condition is that he (Azlan) has to step down, and I also won’t become menteri besar,” the younger brother of former menteri besar Shahidan told Malaysia Decides.

Ismail said he hoped the situation would not reach a point where a by-election for the state was necessary, as it could prove Umno’s undoing.

BN won 10 out of 15 state seats, while PKR won three and PAS two. Perlis is now one of three states – besides Pahang and Sarawak – that BN retained in GE14 after being ousted from federal power.

Shahidan has lashed out, announcing on the same day of Azlan’s swearing-in that Perlis Umno wanted him sacked from the party.

The request, forwarded to the Umno leadership, was rebuffed. Vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein said the power to sack a member did not lie with the state Umno and that Shahidan’s request was inappropriate.

The Raja of Perlis, Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail is upset too at the turn of events and at the alleged boycott by nine BN assemblymen of Azlan’s swearing-in ceremony.

The absence of the nine BN reps was explained as a clash of schedules – on the day of the swearing-in, they were also summoned to meet vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is carrying out the duties of party president, and Hishammuddin.

Perlis Umno Youth head Syed Atif Syed Abu Bakar defended the mercurial Shahidan, saying that the party’s national leaders had failed to consult him about the stalemate and had held an audience with the Raja of Perlis without him.

Shahidan has been the centre of Perlis Umno politics for a long time, said state Pakatan Harapan deputy chief Faisol Abdul Rahman.

The Arau MP since 2013, he had been menteri besar for three terms from 1995 to 2008 and is a warlord in the state.

“Umno Perlis has been under Shahidan’s camp for a long time. Over time, the grassroots became unhappy with the nepotism and cronyism that were practiced,” said Faisol.

Shahidan’s nomination by Umno to the menteri besar post after the 2008 elections clashed with the Raja of Perlis, who appointed Md Isa Sabu instead after a two-week impasse.

Since then, Azlan had already been identified as Md Isa’s successor from 2013, according to PH’s Faisol.

“So now in GE14, we have two camps, one with Azlan and another with Shahidan.

“But more assemblymen who were in Azlan’s camp lost in GE14, leaving him without the clear numbers he needed to have the majority support (to be menteri besar).”

Faisol said PH was waiting to see how the crisis would play out before deciding if their assemblymen would declare support for Azlan.

He said the embattled menteri besar had met him to ask for the backing of PH reps shortly after GE14 results were announced.

“We have not made any decision. We are not saying we won’t support him, but we will wait and see,” said Faisol. – May 27, 2018.