PUTRAJAYA, May 14 — Terengganu Umno lawmakers Datuk Seri Ahmad Said and Ghazali Taib are expected to retract their resignations from Umno later today, bringing a close to the state's leadership crisis, Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman claimed.
Ahmad Razif, who led a delegation of Barisan Nasional (BN) assemblymen to meet with Datuk Seri Najib Razak this morning, said the prime minister had informed them of the duo’s about-turn.
Ahmad, 57, quit Umno on Monday just hours after he was forced to step down as Terengganu mentri besar mid-term.
On Monday night, Ajil assemblyman Ghazali Taib similarly quit from Umno while Bukit Besi assemblyman Roslee Daud reportedly handed in his letter yesterday morning, leaving BN with just 14 seats in the 32-seat assembly.
But in a twist last night, Roslee “verbally” retracted his resignation from Umno.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference after the meeting, Ahmad Razif said Najib had confirmed that Ahmad would return to Umno.
Ahmad regretted his decision to leave Umno and had given a “positive” response during a phone conversation with the Najib, Ahmad Razif added.
“God willing, I have worked with Datuk Seri (Ahmad) for six years and I am fully confident and believe he will be with us.
“I am confident and believe that there is no problem. Just give it a bit of time, the 17 (seats) that we had will be maintained,” Ahmad Razif said.
Ahmad Razif, who started his first day of work as mentri besar this morning, declined to elaborate on his discussions with Najib, only saying that the prime minister had asked Terengganu's BN assemblymen to focus on realising the coalition's mission and vision for the rakyat.
“I would like to thank Datuk Seri Ahmad Said who has carried out his duties well. This makes it easier for us to do our work, because the platform has been prepared for us to continue with the work,” he said.
Terengganu has been in a leadership crisis over the past two days following Ahmad's sudden resignation from Umno on Monday, followed shortly by Ghazali and Roslee.
Had the three politicians chosen to remain independent representatives, BN's share of seats in the state assembly would have dropped to 14 , effectively making the coalition a minority government.
The opposition Pakatan Rakyat holds 15 seats.
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.
