PETALING JAYA: Bersatu deputy president Ahmad Faizal Azumu says his fall from power as the Perak menteri besar will not affect his chances of being re-elected in the Tambun parliamentary seat.
Faizal said he believed his track record as menteri besar between 2018 and 2020 will help him to victory when voters go to the polls on Nov 19.
“We have done a lot of good things in Perak by increasing (the state’s) revenue. We (also) gave one-month bonus to all civil servants,” he said when asked whether his fall from power would affect his credibility and harm his chances in GE15.
Faizal was ousted as a Pakatan Harapan menteri besar after he lost a vote of confidence in the Perak state assembly.
Despite being unable to serve a full term as menteri besar, Faizal said many investments and projects were introduced during his tenure. Perak was said to have recorded revenues of RM1.09 billion in 2019, exceeding its target of RM1.03 billion.
Even during the pandemic Faizal, better known as Peja, said Perak’s economy was managed well as there were still extra funds for the state.
Faizal took credit for the budget tabled by his successor Saarani Mohamad, pointing out that the budget tabled in 2020 by the Umno man was not much different from his. “He did not change anything. So that was my budget,” he said.
Saarani has said there was not enough time to put together a new budget and there was no need to change anything as the budget had already been discussed by the state government under Faizal.
Faizal, who was also state assemblyman for Chenderiang, is likely to contest only the Tambun seat at the general election. He would rather focus on defending the seat against the challenge from Pakatan Harapan chairman Anwar Ibrahim.
