Melaka state assembly dissolved

The Melaka state assembly has been dissolved with effect from yesterday, the office of the state assembly speaker announced today.

It said Melaka Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali had written to the state governor informing him of the move by four assemblymen to withdraw their support for him.

Sulaiman also asked Mohd Ali Rustam to dissolve the state legislative assembly, it said.

“In this regard, Ali agreed after consideration to dissolve the 14th state legislative assembly of Melaka on Oct 1,” it said.

The four assemblymen who withdrew their support for Sulaiman were former Melaka chief minister Idris Haron (BN-Sungai Udang), Nor Azman Hassan (BN-Pantai Kundor), Norhizam Hassan Baktee (Independent-Pengkalan Batu) and Noor Effandi Ahmad (Bersatu-Telok Mas).

They announced at a press conference yesterday that they had lost confidence in Sulaiman’s leadership, triggering the collapse of the state government.

The Melaka government, led by Barisan Nasional, had been represented by 17 assemblymen, comprising 14 from Umno, two from Bersatu and one BN-friendly independent, while the opposition had 11 seats: seven from DAP, and two each from PKR and Amanah, respectively.