BUTTERWORTH: Pakatan Harapan (PH) should meet to discuss who will succeed Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik, who resigned two days ago, said Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.
Lim, who is also DAP’s secretary-general, said that it is best that the issue of the appointment of the new Education Minister be discussed with representatives of all component parties of the ruling coalition, as everyone has their own opinion on the matter.
“I think it is best we discuss the issue of the new Education Minister together in Pakatan Harapan, as everyone has an opinion, so it’s better to discuss together,” Lim said when asked to comment on suggestions that the new Education Minister should be an academician.
He also denied knowledge of talk that former International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed is the likely candidate to fill the vacancy.
“I do not know who will be appointed as the new Education Minister. (It) is best managed by the Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“I am sure that the next Education Minister will be someone from Pakatan Harapan,” he said after attending the upgrading ceremony for the Bagan Jermal Custom’s Quarters Block 826 here, today.
Maszlee stepped down from his post on Jan 3 on the advice of Dr Mahathir. Several names have been bandied about as his possible replacement, including Mustapa and Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, who has denied being in the running.
Meanwhile, a petition which was started to have Maszlee reinstated as Education Minister has received over 300,000 signatures.
Earlier, during the upgrading ceremony for the Custom’s Quarters, Lim said that the Bagan Jermal quarters were built in 1969, but was left unoccupied for the past 20 to 25 years due to its dilapidated state.
“The condition of the quarters was so bad because the previous government did not prioritise repairing and maintaining the existing buildings,” he said, adding that the repair work for the eight units at block 826 cost RM438,000.
Lim said that there are many other quarters and buildings in a similarly dilapidated state and that the government is committed to repairing them in stages.
