Rauf sworn in as Melaka CM

Melaka Barisan Nasional chairman Ab Rauf Yusoh has been sworn in as chief minister for a second term.

Rauf, the Tanjung Bidara assemblyman, took his oath of office before Melaka governor Ali Rustam at Kompleks Seri Negeri in Ayer Keroh.

Last night, BN and Perikatan Nasional named Rauf for the chief minister’s post after the alliance won 24 seats in the state election.

The Melaka Umno chairman was first appointed as chief minister in 2023 after his predecessor, Sulaiman Ali, resigned.

BN won 21 seats in yesterday’s state election, surpassing the two-thirds majority mark, while PN added three more seats. DAP won the remaining four seats for Pakatan Harapan.

Rauf was elected to a second term as Tanjung Bidara assemblyman with a convincing 8,615-vote majority, a manifold increase compared with the 364-vote margin he obtained in the 2021 polls.

Rauf, 65, was formerly Melaka assembly speaker from 2020 to 2021.

He was appointed as a senior executive council member in Sulaiman’s administration after the 2021 state election despite rumours that he was trying to lobby for the chief minister’s post.