DPM expresses confidence in Terengganu UMNO leaders

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamid is confident that Terengganu UMNO leaders can maintain the state's political stability until the general election.

"The problem in Terengganu could be resolved. I hope UMNO leaders and members are not trapped into the game played by frustrated politicians who are outside UMNO," he told reporters after arriving for a two-day working visit, here on Thursday.

Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid was scheduled to hold a meeting with Thailand's two deputy prime ministers, Wissanu Krea-ngam and Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, on Friday.

He said opposition parties in Terrenganu knew that the democratic process could only be practised via the general election and not via other means. Asked to comment on a statement by former UMNO deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on the establishment of a new political party, he said the Registrar of Societies (ROS) would approve the application.

"I have directed the ROS to approve the application but it must comply with all the processes and regulations."

Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid, who is also UMNO vice-president, predicted that the much talked about Malay political party would have a short life, just like other UMNO splinter parties.