The political journey of Ahmad Said

Datuk Seri Ahmad Said born in 1957 was the Menteri Besar of Terengganu from 2008 until May 12, 2014.

He is currently an independent state assemblyman for Kijal, Terengganu state constituency and a former member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

Ahmad Said is a political science graduate from Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), and was elected as an assemblyman in 1990.

Following the 2008 General Election (GE), Barisan Nasional (BN) managed to win a majority in the Terengganu state election garnering 24 out of 32 state seats on offer, with PAS winning the remaining eight seats.

During the formation of the new Terengganu state government, the federal government which was then under Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had put forth the reappointment of Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh to a second term as Menteri Besar. Abdullah claimed that Idris had received full support of twenty-three out of the 24 BN state assemblymen elected.

Trouble began to precipitate after the Sultan of Terengganu, Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, who was also the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia at that time, refused to re-appoint and swear in Idris as the Terengganu MB. Similar problems occurred in the state of Perlis where the PM's choice was also rejected which led to the PM eventually giving in to the Raja of Perlis.

On March 23, 2008, the office of the Sultan of Terengganu had announced the appointment of Ahmad Said as the Terengganu MB, instead of Idris Jusoh.

After the swearing in ceremony, he also expressed his hope in moving on to serve the people and eradicate poverty within the state.

Ahmad Said had won the Kijal state seat, during the 13th GE, defeating Hazri Jusoh from PAS with a 4,204 majority vote.

During the flood crisis which hit the east coast in December 2013, Ahmad Said had stopped two lorries to distribute bread to flood victims which earned him praises even from the opposition during a state assembly sitting.

Ahmad Said was also praised by members of the public, as the incident went viral on Facebook and various blogs.

Last February, Ahmad Said criticised the decision made by Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) to punish Johor FA and not the individuals involved in the alleged Larkin Stadium “tunnel assault”.

FAM had fined Johor FA RM30,000 for the incident at the Larkin Stadium during an FA Cup match between Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) and T-Team on February 1, 2014.

Ahmad Said chided the FAM disciplinary committee for failing in their duties because no charges were brought against any individual or individuals who were involved in the alleged incident.

He resigned as Menteri Besar on May 12, 2014 paving way for Datuk Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman, an assemblyman from Seberang Takir to be appointed as MB.

Ahmad Said had reportedly defected from UMNO because his request to resign from the post after his daughter’s wedding reception on May 17 was declined.

When contacted by Astro AWANI, Ahmad Said said, he had requested his resignation as MB to be postponed but was rejected by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who reportedly said the request was a “personal matter”.

Later, he and Ajil assemblyman, Ghazali Taib, followed by Bukit Besi assemblyman, Roslee Daud, quit UMNO, the ruling party in Terengganu which caused the state to have a minority ruling government Barisan Nasional (14 state assemblyman) and a majority opposition Pakatan Rakyat (15 state assemblyman) with three independent assemblyman for the first time in Malaysia's history.