Ahmad Said reappointed as Terengganu Menteri Besar

Ahmad, 56, received his letter of appointment today following consent from the Sultan of Terengganu, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, to his appointment.

"I met with Tuanku just now and received the letter with the appointment agreed upon by prime minister (Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak), who is the Umno president and BN chairman," he told reporters at his official residence, Seri Iman, here, today.

He said the swearing-in ceremony for the Menteri Besar and the appointment of state executive councillors would be made in two or three days' time.

Earlier, Ahmad's official car was seen entering the grounds of Istana Badariah at 2.45pm and left 20 minutes later with the Kijal assemblyman looking cheerful and waving his hand at reporters waiting at the palace's main gate.

Ahmad was first appointed as menteri besar by Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin on March 22, 2008, the state's eighth menteri besar since 1959.

After last Sunday's general election, only three state executive council (exco) members retained their seats. They were Datuk Ahmad Razif Rahman (Seberang Takir), Rozi Mamat (Telemong) and Dr A Rahman Mokhtar (Kuala Besut), while the rest lost.

Ahmad said the new state exco line-up had been identified and he would be meeting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at PWTC in Kuala Lumpur tonight at 8.30 to discuss the matter.

On Chinese representation in the exco, he said there was no place for a Chinese this time.

"This is the risk that they (Chinese community) have to take when they don't support their own leaders."

Datuk Toh Chin Yaw had previously held an exco post in charge of industry, trade and environment but he lost to Azan Ismail from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in the contest for the Bandar seat by 2,159 votes in the 13th general election (GE13) last Sunday.

Asked on BN's slim-majority victories in Terengganu, he said it was due to the increased support of voters from outside for the opposition pact.

Ahmad said most of the older voters supported BN but the young ones including university students were inclined to vote for the opposition because they were influenced by the promise that they needn't repay their (PTPTN) study loans if the opposition came into power.

"We found out that many voters from outside who returned to vote were paid by certain quarters. That was why we saw so many cars from outside with many of them carrying opposition flags and bearing 'Ini Kalilah' stickers." he said.

In the GE13, Ahmad won the Kijal state seat, defeating Hazri Jusoh from PAS with a 4,204-vote majority.

BN retained Terengganu when it won the state with a simple majority, securing 17 of the 32 state seats.