Terengganu Crisis

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has asked all 10 Barisan Nasional backbenchers who boycotted the second sitting of the Terengganu state assembly Tuesday to return to the proceedings.

Najib also denied that their absence from the assembly had led to a "full-blown political crisis" in the state. Among the backbenchers boycotting the assembly was former mentri besar Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, assemblyman for Jertih.

The third and final sitting of the state assembly is on Wednesday.

Barisan holds 24 seats in the 32-seat state assembly, with PAS holding the remainder. The Barisan lawmakers boycotted proceedings in an apparent bid to force Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said to step down.

They claimed they had received threatening SMSes, and three of them have lodged dpolice reports.

“They (assemblymen) had received SMSes but they did not come from the Mentri Besar’s office, so there is no truth to it. I want them to attend the assembly sittings as usual,” Najib told reporters Tuesday when asked to comment on the apparent boycott.

On allegations that there was a bid to force Ahmad out of office, he said that too had been denied.

Najib also said there was no tension in Terengganu despite latest political developments, adding the issue was not something which could not be managed.

Earlier Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that any problem in Terengganu was of concern to him and Najib, adding that two of them would work together to resolve the issue.

Muhyiddin also said he would meet Ahmad over the matter, adding that he was also waiting for a full report on Tuesday’s incident. He also denied that the assemblymen’s absence from the House was tantamount to a boycott.

“It is their right to attend or not to attend (the state assembly sitting), but not to the extent of jeopardising Barisan’s position in the assembly, for we are the government in Terengganu.

“Will their absence affect the assembly sitting? We want to find out the real situation,” he told after attending a briefing by the Education Ministry’s senior officers.

Asked whether the Federal Government was satisfied with Ahmad’s performance, Muhyiddin said: “He is the MB, and he is doing whatever he is supposed to do.

“I think beyond that, there could be some other issues and problems we need to look into.”

The boycott comes in the wake of speculation that a vote of no confidence would be tabled against Ahmad.

In KUALA TERENGGANU, state backbenchers club chairman Datuk Rosol Wahid told the media that the 10 had not attended the assembly because they were afraid after having received death threats via SMS late Monday night.

Three of them had lodged police reports early Tuesday morning over the threatening SMSes.

“This is not a boycott but we will hold up at this hotel because we are very afraid. If the authorities can give us an assurance on our safety and provide us with security, we will return to the assembly immediately,” he said.

The assemblymen said the threatening SMS was sent by a senior government official associated with Ahmad, but Najib said he had spoken with the mentri besar who denied it had come from his office.

Bernama quoted one of the assemblymen as saying that they received the SMSes at about 11.20pm on Monday from an individual whom they found to be someone they knew after checking the telephone number with the state government’s official diary.

They were warned in the SMS not to pursue their intention, believed to be related to the move to table the no-confidence motion against Ahmad at the current sitting of the state assembly, Bernama said.

Those absent from the assembly on Tuesday included Rosol, the assemblyman for Ajil, Idris, and Muhammad Ramli Noh (Tepoh), Mohd Zawawi Ismail (Kuala Berang), Abdul Halim Jusoh (Permaisuri), Datuk Din Adam (Bukit Besi), Alias Abdullah (Alor Limbat), Zakaria Abdullah (Paka), Ramlan Ali (Jabi) and Mohd Pehimi Yusof (Kota Putera).

On Saturday, Ahmad had warned that any Barisan representative attempting to table a no-confidence motion against him would face disciplinary action, including expulsion.

Ahmad, who is also Terengganu Umno chief, described such a move as detrimental to the state Barisan.

On Monday, Batu Burok state assemblyman Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi of PAS called on Ahmad to dissolve the state assembly and call for fresh elections.

Rosol denied the apparent boycott was in relation to the speculated no-confidence motion.

“This is nonsense. First of all, we had no intention of tabling a motion of no confidence against Ahmad, but all of sudden we see the mentri besar warning assemblymen not to rebel against him in the assembly or face expulsion.

“Why is he panicking?” he said.

Embattled MB
The assembly continued as usual Tuesday with a question and answer session attended by all 10 state executive councillors and three BN assemblymen, as well as all eight PAS assemblymen.

However, Ahmad looked visibly disturbed when replying to some of the questions.

His appointment as mentri besar has been fraught with controversy from day one. Idris, who held the mentri besar post for four years, was Barisan’s first choice but he was not re-appointed due to hiccups with the Terengganu palace.

The 24 elected Barisan representatives threw their support behind Idris in apparent defiance of the Terengganu palace, and even stayed away from Ahmad’s audience with the Chairman of the Regency Advisory Council to receive his appointment letter as mentri besar from the Terengganu palace last April.

Ahmad’s post became shakier when he embarked on drastic steps to remove and re-designate several senior government officials aligned to Idris’ administration.

He is expected to call for a press conference later Tuesday.