The appointment of Saifuddin Nasution Ismail as strategic advisor to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is to strengthen Malay support for the state government, according to Deputy Chief Minister I Rashid Hasnon.

"It is strategy and not 'dedak'," he said in response to PAS organ Harakah Daily likening the PKR secretary-general's appointment to animal feed.

Rashid said Saifuddin will work with a team in Penang dubbed "Strengthening the Rakyat in Penang", which included himself.

"The purpose of this team is to wrestle back Malay seats which the opposition failed to win in the last two elections and to strengthen seats which we only won marginally," he told reporters.

Rashid said the team will focus on the 10 seats won by Umno in Penang in the last national polls.

"Saifuddin has good past experience in Kelantan, where he helped PAS do the same in that state (focus on Umno seats)," he added, referring to the PKR leader's former role as Machang MP.

Rashid said Saifuddin's appointment was discussed by the Pakatan Harapan leadership, and it is the prerogative of the chief minister to appoint him.

He confirmed that the appointment is under the Harapan government, and not DAP or PKR.

"The question of 'dedak' does not arise; PAS should meet us to clarify the matter if they are doubtful about it," he added.

In the Harakah Daily editorial, the writer alleged that Saifuddin's appointment was DAP's way of tying down the PKR leader and his party to do DAP's bidding.

Saifuddin was sworn-in as Lim’s strategic adviser at a low-key event on Wednesday.

Rashid said Saifuddin's appointment does not mean that Penang PKR could not win over Malay voters in the state, but "it is about strengthening ourselves."

"We thought of this strategy because when Penang was mulling snap polls last year, there were concerns that we could not win Malay support.

"So this strategy is to address the issue before the next polls," he added.

According to him, the committee will also include consultants from think-tanks and academics from universities.