Melaka’s UMNO Chief Minister To DAP, In Proverbs: “Leave If You Want, We Were Never Really Married”
Four Pakatan Harapan assemblymen from DAP threatened to quit the state government over a constitutional change. The Chief Minister’s response was a shrug and a marriage metaphor. They quit anyway.
Four Pakatan Harapan (PH) state assemblymen in Melaka had withdrawn from the state government, unhappy that the state assembly had passed a constitutional amendment to increase the number of appointed assemblymen.
Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh had one response when news broke earlier that they were threatening to quit: “Dipersilakan” — go ahead.
The assemblymen from DAP objected to the state assembly’s decision to amend the constitution to increase the number of appointed, unelected state assemblymen — up to seven, under the new amendment.
Critics of such amendments typically argue that appointed seats dilute the weight of elected representatives — and by extension, the voters who put them there.
Melaka DAP followed through.
State chairman Khoo Poay Tiong announced the party’s withdrawal from the Barisan Nasional (BN)-led administration, confirming that its two state executive councillors, two deputy executive councillors, and the deputy speaker would resign from their posts.
Why the Chief Minister Isn’t Worried
Ab Rauf was direct: Barisan Nasional (BN) won enough seats in the last state election to govern Melaka on its own.
PH was never a formal coalition partner — there was no signed agreement, no power-sharing deal, no written arrangement of any kind.
PH assemblymen were included in the state government as a goodwill gesture, he said, to reflect the spirit of the federal-level unity government in Putrajaya — not because BN needed them.
They have no role other than to reflect the cooperative spirit of the unity government in Putrajaya. We have always worked harmoniously. The state government runs well.
If DAP — the main PH component party in Melaka — decides to leave, he said, that is their choice.
