Long-serving Adnan will gift Pahang to PH, says PPBM

Pahang PPBM chief Wan Mohd Shahrir Abdul Jalil draws comparisons between the Pahang menteri besar and former Terengganu MB Wan Mokhtar Ahmad.

Pictures circulating on Facebook showing banners allegedly put up by BN supporters who are unhappy with Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Pahang PPBM believes that Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob will be the downfall of Barisan Nasional (BN) in the state.

The party made the observation following pictures circulating on social media showing banners critical of Adnan. The banners were apparently put up by BN supporters in the state who were unhappy with the menteri besar.

Pahang PPBM chief Wan Mohd Shahrir Abdul Jalil told FMT that he could not confirm if the pictures were real.

However, Wan Shahrir said even during his time in Umno, he had sensed displeasure towards Adnan from within the party.

“Early on, not everyone accepted his leadership but then after his second term, he managed to pacify the branch chiefs in the state,” he said.

“As state liaison, you have to take care of 14 division chiefs. Some are hostile towards you, some are amicable, some are hardcore supporters and some will flip-flop.”

Wan Shahrir, who left Umno for PPBM in September 2016, also drew comparisons between Adnan and former Terengganu menteri besar Wan Mokhtar Ahmad, saying Wan Mokhtar too had served as menteri besar for a long time.

“Wan Mokhtar was more likeable and yet in 1999, Terengganu fell to the opposition, and one of the factors was that the MB had stayed in office for too long.

“I believe history will repeat itself in Pahang.”

Wan Mokhtar served as Terengganu menteri besar from 1974 to 1999. In 1999, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang took over as menteri besar until 2004. Adnan assumed office in Pahang in 1999.

When contacted, Adnan denied Wan Shahrir’s claims, saying the issue was not his performance in Pahang but rather the heat of politics ahead of the coming election.

He claimed the banners had been put up by the opposition and that the person behind it was a former branch chief.

“The banners were put up by four or five PAS and PKR Youth members, and the one who pushed them to do it is a former branch chief who was once caught for misusing the rakyat’s money,” he said. - FMT