KUALA TERENGGANU, May 13 — Terengganu PAS has no immediate plans to entice the three former Umno lawmakers to join its party, state commissioner Satiful Bahri Mamat said today.

Satiful also said the Islamist party would push the state to hold fresh polls as the best way forward out of the political quagmire.

“No, we are not interested in courting them, for the time being,” the Paka state assemblyman told a news conference here.

When asked whether PAS would change their mind if the three lawmakers made public an intention to join the Islamist party, Satiful said, “we will have to see and discuss accordingly. As of right now, it is not an issue.”

The PAS leader said a dissolution of the Terengganu state assembly would also avoid a repeat of the Perak crisis in 2009, when three assemblymen similarly quit the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and swore fealty to Barisan Nasional (BN), causing a change of administration in the west coast state mid-stream.

“What is happening now is a result of Umno's inner problems, it is a result of Umno's own split between its party members,” Satiful said.

Three state lawmakers deserted Umno in the last 24 hours to become independent representatives and have yet to declare their political allegiance, effectively making the Barisan Nasional (BN) a minority government in Terengganu.

The BN now has only 14 seats to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) opposition pact’s 15 in the 32-member state legislative assembly.

Former Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said quit Umno to become an independent assemblyman late yesterday shortly after being replaced by Datuk Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman, plunging the state administration into a political crisis.

Ajil assemblyman Ghazali Taib announced his resignation shortly after Ahmad, followed by Bukit Besi assemblyman Roslee Daud today.

As things stand, PR commands 15 seats but could control the state assembly should the trio cross over or decide to become PR-friendly independents.

Ahmad, who was reappointed Terengganu mentri besar for a second term on May 9 last year, was forced to step down from office mid-term, reportedly due to the BN’s weakest polls performance in a decade.

The embattled lawmaker claimed he had asked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to allow him to step down as mentri besar after his daughter’s wedding reception on May 17 but the Umno president reportedly disregarded the request as a “personal matter”, prompting Ahmad to quit the party.