Pengunduran PH tidak dijangka, tak diminta, kata Rauf

Melaka Chief Minister Ab Rauf Yusoh has stated that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) party's decision to withdraw from governing the state in July last year was neither anticipated nor solicited. This comes after nearly three years of collaboration with the Barisan Nasional (BN) government. Rauf affirmed that he has been managing the state administration without suspicion since being appointed as Chief Minister in March 2023.

He emphasized that his administration's foundation was built without suspicion, but the PH party's decision to remove key ministers from the Cabinet was unexpected and not requested by them.

Despite this, Rauf clarified that the withdrawal of PH representatives does not diminish his ability to continue serving the people. He highlighted that even without PH's participation, the state administration can still provide services to the public. Five PH assemblymen from Melaka withdrew from the state administration on July 16 following the approval of a constitutional amendment related to the appointment of assemblymen.

The five members are Adly Zahari (Bukit Katil), Allex Seah Shoo Chin (Kesidang), Kerk Chee Yee (Ayer Keroh), Low Chee Leong (Kota Laksamana), and Leng Chau Yen (Banda Hilir). Each of them took on new roles such as ex-co chairmen of the development, cooperatives, and public utilities, speaker replacement, and deputy ex-co chairmen.

Rauf emphasized that his greatest achievement was not solely about executing large-scale projects, but rather addressing the concerns of the people. He explained that this approach was carried out through the Representative People for People (WRUR) program, which allows the state government to identify and address citizens' issues in every district.

He mentioned that citizen complaints were collected two months before the program began through the Melaka District and Regional Development Council (Japerun), which validated the involvement of penghulus and district officers in taking action based on the recommendations of the representatives and ex-co chairmen. Some of the issues addressed include poorly maintained rural roads, lack of street lighting, dark community burial grounds, and provision of fuel and milk donations to remote patients.