MAVERICK MB VS DISHONEST PM: The feud between Ahmad Said & Najib has reached BOILING POINT

Datuk Seri Ahmad Said is a man of his own. You can say he's obstinate but he follows the beat of his own drum.

Ahmad entered politics and joined the Telok Kalong Umno branch in Kemaman in 1975 at the tender age of 19. He became the Kijal state assemblyman in 1990 and won the Kijal seat in several general elections, each time defeating the PAS candidate with increased majority.

Ahmad Said has been on his own and without any strong affiliation with top Umno leaders at the federal level. Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the other hand has always been spoon fed.

Still along the way Ahmad Said has managed to run and accrue his business and is quite well to do - all on his own efforts and this is his initial strength; he need not be a sycophant to any Umno leader. Off and on, there have been rumors of his rogue approach in doing business and competing with his competitors but these have never substantiated.

In fact in general Ahmad Said has been almost a nobody in the Terengganu politics, especially in the Umno world. Due to his down to earth and straight forwardness, he has been loved by those at the grass root levels and hated by his peers.

It was when Tun Abdullah Badawi (Pak Lah) was the Prime Minister after the GE-12 that Ahmad Said was appointed as the Menteri Besar of Terengganu instead of Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh. Idris Jusoh was Pak Lah’s choice but was snubbed by the Sultan of Terengganu who was also the Yang DiPertuan Agong then.

Datuk Seri Ahmad Said

When Datuk Seri Najib Razak became Prime Minister, he was determined to install his own man to replace Ahmad Said. In typical Umno style, a smear campaign was launched but Ahmad Said managed to hold onto his position despite being on his own and without any powerful supporters. He achieved this because of the marginal number of seats won by Umno/BN. It was tough to dislodge him and Ahmad Said even threatened to quit from Umno. If he had, the state government would be in limbo.

A deal and compromise were made by Najib and Ahmad Said was given a grace period of resigning from the post of Menteri Besar after his daughter’s wedding reception. Some people said that Ahmad Said was threatened with possible exposures of his wrong doings, but some said that he was much rewarded. But still Ahmad Said would wait for his day to come.

The relationship between Ahmad Said and Najib has never been good even until now. In fact when Ahmad Said announced that he has left Umno during the feud with Najib, this proved to the world that Umno was not important to him anymore, and it was Umno that needed him more.

This stubbornness by Ahmad Said towards Najib showed that he was not afraid of Najib and has little respect for the PM! This has also instilled some sort of distrust between Ahmad Said and other Umno leaders in Terengganu who have no choice but to support Najib so they can 'enjoy' the benefits.

Not surprisingly, Ahmad Said's colleagues would very happy to see him destroyed and removed from the power equation in Umno Terengganu.

Not afraid of Najib

PM Najib and Datuk Seri Ahmad Said

According to Ahmad Said, he was removed from power because of his refusal to allow 1MDB to mortgage the oil and gas oilfields and revenue from Terengganu as proposed by controversial businessman and Najib’s trusted proxy, Jho Low.

Ahmad Said has again become a hero to the people of Terengganu as he has always been the hero for the people of Kijal! Najib on the other hand is hated and despised more and more each day that he clings on!

Najib must have been very angry with Ahmad Said's revelation, more so when it was revealed at the critical time when he had so much explaining to do over the 1MDB fiasco. Ahmad Said has had his revenge almost fulfilled! But not quite - it seems more revelations will be 'time-released'.

More shock revelations to come despite Najib cover-up bid

The Umno grapevine is abuzz with talk Najib must have instructed his man, the present Menteri Besar of Terengganu Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman to make a denial on the involvement of Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) with 1MDB.

Unfortunately this denial is more of twisting the words instead of clearing the air once and for all. The denial is therefore difficult to be swallowed by the people. Moreover it was too little and too late.

When the 1MDB fiasco was exposed several months back implicating the involvement of TIA in the formation of 1MDB, why did Ahmad Razif deny it or make some effort to put the record straight? Most probably Ahmad Razif is not familiar with the issue, thus his denial has also been confusing and not straight forward.

As reported Ahmad Razif said, “No such thing. Our exco would not have agreed as we also have a team of experts to advise us and that would not have happened.”

But Ahmad Said did not lie, what he said was there had been an attempt. “1MDB had attempted to use Terengganu’s oil and gas as collateral, but the decision was later withdrawn”.

Dishonest Najib & Co

No wonder, Razif's denial issued a day later is perceived as being a desperate and half-baked effort to cover Najib's tracks!

Again Najib has not been truthful to the people on the 1MDB fiasco. We only know about the things Najib has done to siphon USD700 million from 1MDB with the help of Jho Low through third parties and various whistle blowers.

Yes, Najib has 'allowed' the money to be siphoned out, if not, why then is there no real effort to re-coup back the money? Instead Najib puts every effort to pump more money into the debt-ridden and cash-strapped 1MDB! But that is another complicated story.

We only know the troubles facing 1MDB of losing RM42 billion through exposés. We also only know the involvement of Tabung Haji in partially bailing out 1MDB through others. We also only know about the six banks asking for the repayment of the loans given to 1MDB from the news! Ahmad Said has put more salts on Najib’s wounds!

It won’t be surprising if we hear more exposés later. Najib should just own up, close 1MDB and resign. That would be the only honourable thing to do now.

Otherwise, Najib is only wasting his own time, waiting for his enemies to detonate 'the 1 MDB bomb' on him and his family. He may talk big but he is only waiting for his rivals to blow him to pieces and straight into POLITICAL OBLIVION! - MAILBAG