Batu Umno Chief Suggests Fahmi As Ft Minister

---

 


Batu Umno division chief Gulam Muszaffar Gulam Mustakim has suggested Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil be appointed as federal territories minister in the upcoming cabinet reshuffle, believed to be scheduled later this year.
In a Facebook post today, Gulam (above) explained that the problems currently plaguing the federal territories were a result of non-local residents being tasked to lead the ministry.
“We experience problems in the federal territories when we get leaders who are not from here. For example, the political secretary is from Kedah, and the minister is from Johor.
“So, I suggest that Fahmi Fadzil should be appointed as federal territories minister, or for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s political secretary, Azman Bidin, who was also born and raised here, to be promoted as senator during the cabinet reshuffle later this year,” he said.
ADSFahmi currently serves as the communications minister.
Gulam was responding to an earlier statement from Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Dr Zaliha Mustaffa’s political secretary, Nur Azrin Surip, who said that political appointments to the local residents’ representation councils also included BN representatives.
Azrin also insisted that the people’s welfare must take precedence over individual or party struggles, in response to Gulam’s initial allegations that Umno members were often sidelined within the federal territories.
‘Umno did more than Harapan’
Calling out Azrim’s remarks, Gulam claimed that he had been a representation council chairperson at the PKNS flats in Jalan Kuching since his youth.
“In terms of welfare and charity work, Batu Umno has done a much better job than any (Pakatan) Harapan parliamentarians, or other PKR leaders within the federal territories.
“In fact, the current members of Batu MPP for 2024/2025 are full of problems, and there have been complaints that they do not seem to get along at all with residents,” he claimed.
Gulam added that in the previous Batu PKR branch election, Batu Umno had been a “political friend” which allowed the party to use their hall and facilities for free.
Communications Minister Fahmi FadzilHe also said that several Batu PKR branch leaders, including Asheeq Ali Sethi Alivi and his team, were also invited to Batu Umno’s branch conferences.
“This is how Batu Umno makes friends - we are sincere and honest… God willing, Batu Umno can still be independent without cooperation from the federal territories minister, especially since we have been working alone anyway for these past two years,” he said.
Tensions rise
Last week, Gulam resigned as a trustee of the Federal Territories Foundation after his division decided to sever ties with Harapan.
ADSHe said Batu Umno’s decision was triggered by dissatisfaction over the distribution of representation subzones, claiming Harapan failed to honour a promise to give Umno one of the six subzones, which instead went to PKR.
He also alleged that PKR’s Batu MP P Prabakaran had never allocated funds to Umno for constituency work.
Batu MP P PrabakaranEarlier today, Seputeh Umno secretary Nurul Hazwani Haslan echoed Batu Umno’s claims, insisting that the division had also been sidelined from the residents’ representative council.
Hazwani claimed that the Federal Territories Department reneged on its promise to appoint party representatives for the 2025-2028 term. - Mkini

---