4 more Terengganu reps might quit Umno, says PAS

Four more Umno Terengganu assemblymen‎ are expected to quit the party, following in the footsteps of former menteri besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said, as rumours swirled that Barisan Nasional was seeking an audience with the Sultan of Terengganu to dissolve the assembly.

PAS Terengganu election director Ariffin Deraman said it heard that four more Umno representatives would follow Ahmad.
“He has seven representatives who are loyal to him," Ariffin, who is the Alor Limbat assemblyman, told The Malaysian Insider.
Last night, Seberang Takir assemblyman Datuk Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman was sworn in as the new ment‎eri besar before the Sultan of Terengganu, but six Umno state representatives, including Ahmad, were absent from the ceremony.
Three state representatives then resigned from Umno and are staying on as independent assemblymen: Ahmad, Roslee Daud of Bukit Besi and Ajil assemblyman Ghazali Taib.
The resignations left the new Terengganu menteri besar and BN without a majority in the legislative assembly.
BN now holds 14 seats in the 32-seat state assembly as opposed to Pakatan Rakyat's 15.
Ariffin said PAS had learnt that BN was trying to dissolve the state assembly and meet the sultan.
"I understand that Umno is working to dissolve the state assembly to allow state elections to be held again, but I would prefer a change of government like what happened to Perak," he said before attending PAS Terengganu Dewan Harian's emergency meeting this morning.
The Dewan Harian‎ is the most senior body in PAS Terengganu and is chaired by PAS Terengganu commissioner Saiful Bahri, along with three deputy commissioners, Ulama council chief, the Youth and Women's wings, the secretary, treasurer, information chief and election director.
Ariffin said the public may be unhappy with fresh elections, given that the general election was held only last year.
The Pakatan Rakyat-led Perak government fell in 2008 after one PKR and one DAP state representative defected to become BN-friendly independents.
The Sultan of Perak, who is also the former chief justice, appointed Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir as the Perak menteri besar on February 2009, after receiving the support of 27 Umno assemblymen, one MCA and three independents.
"It is simpler to have a change of government than fresh state elections," said Ariffin, adding that this was ‎acting on the presumption that Ahmad Said and his supporters agreed to cooperate with Pakatan.
PAS had ruled Terengganu twice, but both stints were brief, with the first government lasting only a few months, while the second, under the leadership of PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, lasted only a term.
Besides Satiful, Hadi's name is being touted as a replacement for the menteri besar’s post should Pakatan Rakyat take over the state government.
Ahmad Said signed the resignation letter stipulating that he step down a year after ‎his reappointment as menteri besar for a second term.
But Ahmad Said requested that his term be extended until after his child's wedding on Saturday.
But reports say that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak refused to budge on the grounds that the reasons were personal. – May 13, 2014.