Following the not-so-surprising stepping down of beleaguered education minister Dr. Maszlee Malik (a.k.a. the guy who spent a lot of public time debating why kids should be allowed to wear black shoes to school) rumors about his potential replacement began circulating online and, wouldn’t you know, he’s a popular face at the Mahathir family holiday table.
Mukhriz Mahathir, son of Prime Minister Mahathir and chief minister of the northern state of Kedah, was aware that his name was being dropped as a potential successor to the outgoing Maszlee; however, he told media outlets today that no such decision had been made.
“There is a lot more work to be done in Kedah,” he said, without speculating as to why his name came up.
“Many things go viral but I don’t know – maybe some people have a lot of time to make posters, put in old pictures and make assumptions,” he said at a press conference.
Despite having met with his father just a day before Maszlee’s resignation was announced, Mukhriz maintained that he had no idea the post would soon be vacated.
He stopped short of removing his name outright from the list of potential candidates, maintaining that it was of course up to the PM (a.k.a. his dad) to choose whomever he saw fit to take over the post. No list of candidates has been suggested, but PM Mahathir has already stated that it will be his prerogative to decide on a replacement for the controversial Maszlee.
Watch this space, y’all!
