Idris Haron to replace Ali Rustam as Malacca MB candidate?
Tangga Batu MP is being touted as the man to replace Mohd Ali Rustam as the chief minister of Malacca if Barisan Nasional retains the state in the coming general elections.
According to sources, Idris is the frontrunner for the CM post because party bigwigs consider him 'young, credible and well-liked by the rakyat'.
Idris was elected to the parliament in the 2004 general election for the then freshly-formed seat of Tangga Batu. He retained his seat in the 2008
election and also served as deputy higher education minister in former Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's cabinet.
In 2005, Idris made unwanted headlines for saying in parliament that the tight outfits worn by Malaysia Airlines flight attendants would result in them being harassed by male passengers.
Meanwhile, Mohd Ali, who has been the state chief minister since 1999, was on Tuesday announced as one of the Umno politicians who would be contesting a parliamentary seat.
Prime Minister Najib Razak, in his candidate list, pencilled the 64-year-old Umno veteran in for the Bukit Katil parliamentary seat in Malacca.
Mohd Ali served as an Umno vice-president for one term in 2004. In 2009, he was dropped from contesting as deputy president at party polls after being allegedly guilty of money politics.
He is one of a big group of Barisan Nasional politicians who are moving from state to parliamentary seat and vice versa. Others include Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman, who'll take on DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang in the coveted parliamentary seat of Gelang Patah and Jerlun MP Mukhriz Mahathir, who's one of the leading candidates to be appointed Kedah Menteri Besar if he wins the Ayer Hitam state seat he's contesting (and if BN wins Kedah).
It is believed that Mohd Ali will be one of the prime candidates for a Cabinet position if he and Barisan win in the next elections.
