KUALA KANGSAR: Perak state executive councillor (exco) members are expected to be appointed by next week.
Its Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said the appointment must be done immediately as the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah had raised concerns over the outbreak of Covid-19 which could undermine the economy and affect the people.
"The sultan is worried about the latest development involving Covid-19 around the world and which had been declared as pandemic," he said at a press conference here today.
Earlier, Chenderiang state assemblyman was sworn in as the 13th Mentri Besar of Perak for the second time, before Sultan Nazrin at Istana Iskandariah here.
This is the second time the 49-year-old Perak Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairman has been named Perak Menteri Besar.
On Tuesday, Faizal submitted his resignation letter as Menteri Besar and all other posts to the Sultan of Perak after Bersatu, Umno and Pas joined forces to form a Perikatan Nasional state government with a 32-seat majority.
Asked further on the exco candidates, he said they must be vetted by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
Faizal said he would follow the example set by the Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in appointing Cabinet members of caliber who have integrity and a clean record.
"I will definitely take the appointment of the Cabinet members as an example in selecting the exco line-up for the state.
"We do not want to create issues later on that could tarnish the image of the state government. With the recent political turmoil, I have failed to chair exco meeting for more than five weeks.
"I have spoken about the matter to Datuk Saarani (Saarani Mohamad, State Umno Liaison chairman) and Razman (Razman Zakaria, Perak Pas Commisioner) so that we can sit together and come out with the exco list before we submit it to the Sultan of Perak," he said.
Commenting on his appointment as menteri besar, Faizal said he was lucky to be chosen to helm the state government again.
"People accept this transition and I am blessed to be able to work with new friends in the Perikatan Nasional.
"We should be open-minded and accept the transition and we must strive to do our best for the sake of the rakyat and not focus on one particular group or race," he said.
Meanwhile, Razman said that Sultan Nazrin had made the right decision by appointing Faizal as menteri besar.
"The position should be given to Faizal as he has sacrificed to step down as menteri besar (in the previous state government) to form Perikatan Nasional," he said.
Meanwhile, Saarani urged all Umno members to accept the latest development.
"Allah decides everything. We should be strong and work harder for the 15th general election (GE15).
"Don't worry about me, I am strong enough ... my late father used to tell me 'don't take Allah's job'," said the Kota Tampan assemblyman who also expressed his gratitude for his supporters.