PETALING JAYA: Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor defended his decision to take on eight portfolios in the state executive council.
He deflected the issue by claiming that 28 Cabinet ministers also held multiple portfolios.
"At state level, we only have 11 (executive councillors) and so each exco member will hold multiple portfolios in order to be aligned with the federal government," reports FMT from his Facebook post today.
He also claimed that there were structures within the state government that did not exist at the federal level, and vice versa, but did not provide further explanations.
The Jeneri assemblyman is now in charge of state planning; mineral and geoscience; land resources; finance; state-linked companies; State Economic Action Council; development; and external relations.
In the previous term, he held seven portfolios.
Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi had slammed Sanusi for claiming the eight portfolios in the council, and said that he should have delegated more duties to other exco members.
Puad told FMT that Sanusi's duties should be focused on the state's course and policies, namely land resources and finance which would enable him to control the state's direction and policies.
He said that it was excessive for Sanusi to chair eight different committees.