KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — Kijal assemblyman Datuk Seri Ahmad Said’s threats to leave Umno and join PAS is just a smokescreen as he actually wants to join the new party to be set up by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, according to Terengganu PAS commissioner Satiful Bahri Mamat.

Satiful Bahri added that Ahmad Said had bigger ambitions for himself, and is seen as a close associate of Dr Mahathir.

"He doesn’t fear any disciplinary action. In fact, he is waiting for it to happen. When he said he wanted to leave Umno and join PAS, I knew there was no way he was joining us. He is merely using PAS as a smokescreen to pursue a bigger ambition,” he was quoted telling the daily.

"One of the tell-tale signs is that he was appointed as the state’s president of Perkasa, a non-governmental organisation affiliated with Dr Mahathir. It is obvious that his ultimate motive is to overthrow Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.”

Ahmad Said was recently appointed the new Terengganu chief of Malay rights group Perkasa on July 21, the same day he was appointed but declined a post in the state government under Ahmad Razif.

Ties between Ahmad Said and his successor Ahmad Razif have been strained after the Kemaman Umno division chief was forced to step down as mentri besar in May 2014.

Ahmad Said and two other state Umno assemblymen then quit the party, which resulted in the BN becoming a minority government in Terengganu for a brief 48 hours that ended only after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak intervened. The three rebels subsequently rejoined Umno.

Last March, Ahmad Said sought to table a motion of no-confidence against Ahmad Razif in the state assembly but was refused by Terengganu Speaker Datuk Mohd Zubir Embong.

Umno holds 17 seats in the 32-seat Terengganu state legislative assembly while opposition parties PAS and PKR have 14 and one, respectively.