BN Tipped for Eight Negeri Sembilan Exco Posts, PN Two

Barisan Nasional (BN) is tipped to take eight seats on the Negeri Sembilan executive council, with Perikatan Nasional (PN) receiving two, under a power-sharing arrangement between the two coalitions.

Palong assemblyman Mustapha Nagoor and Linggi assemblyman Faizal Ramli are among those expected to be appointed as BN executive councillors. Both served in the previous state administration under former menteri besar Aminuddin Harun.

However, Negeri Sembilan Umno chief and Pertang assemblyman Jalaluddin Alias is not expected to be part of the exco lineup.

Serting assemblyman Fairuz Isa, who is also the Negeri Sembilan PAS commissioner, is among the PN representatives expected to be appointed to the council.

All the appointments are expected to be formalised tomorrow morning when the executive councillors are sworn in before the Yang Dipertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, Tuanku Muhriz Tuanku Munawir, at Istana Besar Seri Menanti.

In a related development, the state assembly speaker's post is expected to go to BN, while PN is set to receive the deputy speaker's post.

Lenggeng assemblyman Asna Amin is the leading candidate for speaker, having previously served as deputy speaker, but he is also being considered for an exco post, meaning the final lineup has yet to be settled.

A source said the allocation of exco positions had been agreed by the leadership of both coalitions as part of the power-sharing arrangement following their victory in last Saturday's Negeri Sembilan state election.

Together, BN and PN secured 25 of the 36 seats in the state assembly, enabling them to form the new state government.

The source also dismissed claims that PN had demanded a certain number of positions in the state administration.

"The matter was never raised during the negotiations," the source said.