The Problem In Terengganu Is That Umno Has A Gangster As Its Head

As long as Ahmad Said is head of Umno Terengganu, he will never cooperate or work with Perikatan Nasional. He will make sure Umno Terengganu is ‘independent’, just like Umno Sabah. And, by nature, Ahmad Said will fight with anyone and everyone just to get things his way or no way.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Last night, PAS and PPBM (Bersatu) officially formed the Terengganu Perikatan Nasional Committee (READ BELOW: PAS, Bersatu officially form Terengganu Perikatan Committee).

Ahmad Said, the head of Umno Terengganu, said Umno will NOT be forming any alliance with Perikatan Nasional and instead will contest against Perikatan Nasional in all 40 state and parliament seats.

Ahmad Said is also confident that Umno can win at least 6 of the 8 parliament seats and 25 of the 32 state seats.

If that happens, this would mean PAS will, again, be a one-term government like in 1999 (and earlier in 1959, as well).

The problem is actually not so much Umno Terengganu but more due to its head, Ahmad Said. Ahmad Said is known as a kaki gedebeh, the local slang for warlord or gangster. He has always been a problem, not only for PAS, but also for Umno and the Prime Minister as well.

READ MORE HERE: Ahmad Said and the RM800 Million Disaster

Wikipedia has an interesting write-up on Ahmad Said, which you can read below. The Wikipedia write-up shows that Ahmad Said is a controversial and problematic person who basically does what he wants — and he does not care about what HQ or the PM says.

In short, he runs Umno Terengganu like a warlord in Afghanistan.

As long as Ahmad Said is head of Umno Terengganu, he will never cooperate or work with Perikatan Nasional. He will make sure Umno Terengganu is ‘independent’, just like Umno Sabah. And, by nature, Ahmad Said will fight with anyone and everyone just to get things his way or no way.

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PAS, Bersatu officially form Terengganu Perikatan Committee

(Bernama) – Terengganu Perikatan Nasional (PN) has officially formed a state committee comprising the state’s PAS and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) leaders last night.

Terengganu PN Information chief Wan Sukairi Wan Abdullah said the committee is chaired by Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who will be assisted by Terengganu Bersatu chairman Datuk Razali Idris and Terengganu PAS Commissioner Datuk Husain Awang, as vice-chairmen.

“Alhamdulillah, Terengganu PN has been officially formed with a complete committee. Last night’s meeting was attended by all 24 members or the committee, except Treasurer Datuk Rosol Wahid, who is now in Sabah.

“The meeting also agreed to form PN committee at all divisions, which will be chaired by their respective Members of Parliament, except Besut.

“It is hoped that Terengganu PN will be actively operational in preparations for the 15th General Election (GE15),” he said in a statement here today.

The first meeting of the committee also agreed to invite Terengganu Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) to join the coalition in facing the GE15.

On the status of PAS-Umno cooperation, Wan Sukairi said it will continue to persist through Muafakat Nasional.

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AHMAD SAID (WIKIPEDIA)

Following the 2008 Malaysian general election, Barisan Nasional managed to win a majority in the Terengganu state election garnering 24 out of 32 state seats on offer, with PAS winning the remaining 8 seats.

In the formation of the new Terengganu state government, the federal government under the then Prime Minister (PM) Abdullah Ahmad Badawi put forth the reappointment of Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh to a second term as Menteri Besar. Abdullah claimed Idris received full support of twenty-three of the 24 Barisan Nasional state assemblymen elected.

In what political analysts described as a possible constitutional crisis, trouble began to precipitate after the Sultan of Terengganu, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, who was also then Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia, refused to re-appoint and swear in Idris as Menteri Besar. On 22 March 2008, the office of the Sultan of Terengganu announced the appointment of Kijal assemblyman Ahmad Said instead of Idris Jusoh.

The Prime Minister responded by saying that the appointment of Ahmad Said was “unconstitutional” as it went against the wishes of the assemblymen and the Prime Minister’s office who have supported Idris Jusoh’s candidacy for Menteri Besar. The 22 other BN assemblymen had also pledged their support toward the appointment of Idris Jusoh according to the then Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

In spite of threats to strip Ahmad Said of his UMNO membership “for disobeying the leadership”, he went to the office in Wisma Darul Iman to begin the first day of his new appointment on 25 March 2008. Ahmad Said was subsequently stripped of his UMNO membership. This technically disqualified him from representing the state UMNO and therefore commanding the majority in the legislative assembly to be appointed as Menteri Besar in the first place.

The ruling party also planned to vote down the Sultan’s choice through a motion of no-confidence by 22 UMNO state assemblymen. The opposition party Parti Islam SeMalaysia in the meantime promised that its assemblymen would support Ahmad Said as Menteri Besar.

On 26 March 2008, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin met at Istana Negara to resolve the impasse. The Prime Minister reversed his stance and decided to accept the King’s appointment of Ahmad Said as Menteri Besar of Terengganu. He also apologised to the King for the public spat over the appointment of the Menteri Besar, explaining that there was no intention to disparage or humiliate the royal household. The apparent backdown was due to threat that the royal household would be prepared to dissolve the state assembly if the motion of no-confidence was initiated against Ahmad Said, which would trigger another election in what is already a climate of discontent towards the ruling party and the possibility of dissenting assemblymen defecting to the opposition.

The UMNO Supreme Council proceeded to endorse Ahmad Said as the new Menteri Besar of Terengganu. With the resolution of the impasse, Ahmad Said expressed his gratefulness over his appointment and paid tribute to Idris, an old friend he has known since university, for the work he has done for the Terengganu people so far and to seek his advice. After the swearing in ceremony, he also expressed hope in moving on to discharge his responsibility to the people and eradicate poverty within the state.

He resigned as Menteri Besar on 12 May 2014 making way for Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman, an assemblyman from Seberang Takir. This was made as an agreement with the Prime Minister, Najib Razak that he will step down after a year in his second term. He, however, did not step down without another controversy (or crisis during his appointment). He and Ajil assemblyman, Ghazali Taib, followed by Bukit Besi assemblyman, Roslee Daud, quit UMNO, the ruling party in Terengganu and have caused the state to have a minority ruling government Barisan Nasional (14 state assemblyman) and a majority opposition Pakatan Rakyat (15 state assemblyman) with 3 independent assemblyman for the first time in Malaysia’s history. This is because he felt slighted when Najib Razak rejected his proposal to quit after his daughter’s wedding reception. However, all three then revoked their decision and returned to UMNO. He later on pledged to give his full support to the new MB.