KANGAR: Barely two weeks after GE14, the country’s smallest state, Perlis, may be facing fresh elections.

The state now has a mentri besar but he has no support from his own party members.

Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Seri Azlan Man was sworn in as Mentri Besar, but all nine Barisan assemblymen boycotted the event, leaving the Raja of Perlis a furious man.

Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Putra Jamalullail said he did not want “outside forces” to control the state through a “puppet mentri besar”.

However, without a single one of his party’s assemblymen behind him, Azlan is left with two unpalatable choices.

“He can step down and let Barisan offer a new candidate. Or he can go to the Ruler and advise him to dissolve the state assembly for a fresh election. But this is costly and bothersome for the people,” said PKR’s Indera Kayangan assemblyman Gan Ay Ling.

Gan also said under state law, the Ruler may choose any other person to become the mentri besar even if the choice is not an assemblyman, but that shall always be the last resort.

At the Arau Palace yesterday, only three assemblymen from PKR and two from PAS attended as witnesses as Azlan was sworn in.

All nine Barisan assemblymen were in Kuala Lumpur meeting the Umno central leadership.

In a press conference later, Azlan who is Mentri Besar for the second term, pledged to continue with ongoing development projects and said he would appoint his exco team after seeking guidance from acting Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

“Despite now being an Opposition state, we will continue to strive and look forward to the support of all assemblymen especially those from Barisan,” said Azlan, who holds the Bin­tong state seat and is Perlis Barisan deputy chairman.

He expressed confidence in resolving the matter soon and hoped the Pakatan Harapan-led government would not sideline the people in Perlis.

Barisan won 10 out of 15 state seats in the state. The five Opposition state assemblymen are Gan, Asrul Nizan Abd Jalil (Sena-PKR) and Noor Azam Karap (Kuala Perlis-PKR), and PAS’ Mohd Shukri (Sanglang) and Mohd Ridzuan Hashim (Guar Sanji).

On May 12, Perlis Barisan delivered a letter to the Arau Palace which said that Tambun Tulang assemblyman Datuk Ismail Kassim commanded the confidence of the new state assembly.

Ismail is the brother of state Barisan chairman and former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim. Shahidan is Arau MP.