KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said today the state governments can form their own administrations in whichever partisan composition they like, and not necessarily dictated by the federal government’s composition.
He said all the states can have their own mix as long as they function and the end result benefits the public, and the several cases of state governments changing hands did not happen by Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) design.
“If we look at federalism and in modern countries, these things are not uncommon.
“The important thing is not the combination, be it A, B or C, as long as they can form a government and work together,” the communications and multimedia minister told state broadcaster RTM in an interview.
Several state governments have also changed hands following the political upheaval in Putrajaya, including Perak, Johor and Melaka.
Saifuddin when asked how he felt this would affect the states and federal governments future said he welcomed it and felt it was a good thing to have diversity and mix of different affiliations.
“In general, we want to sort out our affairs on the federal level but there’s something we need to look at and I don’t think it happened by design.
“I believe what’s happening in the states is something I think is an unintentional political maturity and I think if it continues it will open up a new political landscape where the states can decide who they want to team with,” said Saifuddin.