KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 — Terengganu Umno chief Datuk Seri Ahmad Said has been urged to step down after all 32 Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates lost in the state election last Saturday, reported Utusan Malaysia.
Kemaman Umno deputy chief Datuk Wan Ahmad Nizam Wan Abdul Hamid was reported saying that Ahmad, who is also a former Terengganu menteri besar, must take responsibility for the defeat.
“It is time for him to step down and give a chance to a new face to lead the party so that there are new ideas that can strengthen the party.
“The state BN needs to be reshuffled to be 'rebranded' and 'reengineered' because it is very weak at the moment,” he was quoted saying.
He claimed that Ahmad, who has been head of the Kemaman division for 23 years, has overstayed his welcome.
“Ahmad has been the Umno divisional leader in Kemaman since 2000. We have changed the youth division leader five times but he is still there,” said Wan Ahmad.
Ahmad also failed to defend the Kijal state seat which he has held for nine terms.
In the election, Perikatan Nasional (PN) component parties PAS and Bersatu swept up all 32 state seats, including 10 that had been held by Umno.
Wan Ahmad Nizam also challenged PN to keep its election promises to voters now that PAS has succeeded in taking over the state.
“Now is the time for PAS to implement the hudud law which they fought for before,” he mockingly said.
“The state of having no opposition is actually not good for the development of the state because PAS is free to do anything and there are no checks and balances which will ultimately harm the people.”
Besides Ahmad, party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has also faced calls for him to step down due to Umno's dismal performance over the weekend.
