PUTRAJAYA, May 15  — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin today expressed relief that Barisan Nasional (BN) was able to resolve the resignation of three Terengganu lawmakers from Umno to avoid sending the state into an extended crisis.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin, who is also the deputy chairman of BN, urged the coalition to now put the controversy behind it since it remains the government of the day in Terengganu.

“That matter we managed to solve it in a short time, we didn’t want that crisis to drag on,” he told reporters here.

“But whatever it is, we should forget that matter. The important thing is that the Barisan Nasional government is still mantap (strong) and still have mandate to continue administering Terengganu,” said Muhyiddin.

Terengganu was plunged briefly into an administrative crisis when  former Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said and two other state lawmakers quit Umno this week, leaving BN with just 14 seats against Pakatan Rakyat's 15 in the 32-seat assembly.

The resignations turned BN into a minority government and vulnerable to a vote of no-confidence that could have forced it from the administration.

But the trio retracted their resignation letters yesterday and have returned to the Umno fold after Ahmad and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak exchanged apologies over a “misunderstanding” over the wedding of the Terengganu lawmaker’s daughter.

Ahmad previously said his resignation from the party was due to the Umno president’s refusal to allow him to step down from office only after his daughter’s wedding reception this Saturday.

In a separate press conference today in Putrajaya, Najib said both he and Muhyiddin were initially unaware of this Saturday’s event, and had thought there was only one wedding reception held last Saturday.

Declaring the miscommunication an opportunity to bring BN closer and strengthen it, Najib also said he will attend the wedding reception for Ahmad’s daughter this week.

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.