Terengganu still in a state of limbo

Written by Chan Kok Leong, The Edge   

It has been more than six months since the mini rebellion first erupted in Terengganu, but no end is in sight yet.

Despite the intervention of Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, the situation in the state remains a sticky proposition for Umno.

While the Umno assemblymen aligned to former menteri besar Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh continue to be cold towards the current chief Datuk Ahmad Said, it is the palace which has the final say.

Prior to Ahmad’s appointment in 2008, many of the Umno assemblymen had protested against the palace’s decision of not reappointing Idris as the menteri besar.

As such, an Umno insider in the Terengganu division feels it is unlikely that there is any “acceptable” replacement for Ahmad Said. With Idris’ reappointment unlikely, there is a dearth of options to replace Ahmad, he added.

Although Muhyiddin had promised on Sept 10 to resolve the Terengganu crisis after the Hari Raya holidays, the likelihood remains small.

According to another leader in Terengganu, Umno vice-president and newly appointed state liaison chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein will hold a fresh round of negotiations soon, but a solution is not expected.

“Hishammuddin is a respected leader in Umno but so far he has not been able to resolve the differences between the two camps,” said the local leader in Kuala Terengganu.

“Worse yet, the leaders are not confident that Hishammuddin is able to rectify the imbalance,” he added. “This has led Muhyiddin to jump into the fray after rumours circulated in September that the Umno assemblymen may defect.”

Although there is no truth in the rumours that the assemblymen would “cross over” but their hostility towards Ahmad could not be swept under the carpet, said the insider.

The situation was made worse after Hishammuddin took over as Terengganu Umno chief and revamped the state liaison committee in June by appointing several leaders aligned to Ahmad to the committee.

Therefore, although the state committee is filled with Ahmad’s men, the assembly remains partly loyal to his predecessor.

During the last assembly sitting in August, the “unhappy” backbenchers remained quiet during the day’s sitting although they backed the state government’s resolutions.

In April, 10 BN assemblymen had skipped the state assembly sitting to show their unhappiness with Ahmad’s leadership.

The 10 were Muhammad Ramli Noh (Tepuh), Mohd Zawawi Ismail (Kuala Berang), Datuk Din Adam (Bukit Besi), Alias Abdullah (Alor Limbat), Ramlan Ali (Jabi), Mohd Pehimi Yusof (Kota Putera), Zakaria Abdullah (Paka), Abdul Halim Jusoh (Permaisuri), Datuk Rosol Wahid (Ajil) and former MB Idris (Jertih).

Three of them — Zakaria, Abdul Halim and Rosol — also lodged police reports alleging they had been threatened via SMSes not to attempt a no-confidence motion against Ahmad at the state assembly sitting.

In July, Datuk Dr Ahmad Ramzi Mohamad Zubir, who is Idris’ political secretary, was charged with sending the threatening SMSes.