Former Terengganu menteri besar Idris Jusoh was rumoured to be the mastermind behind the political imbroglio in the state aimed at ousting current Menteri Besar Ahmad Said.

But this was denied by one of the state assemblypersons involved, who argued that they were fully capable of initiating such a move on their own.

According to Alor Limbat assemblyperson Alias Abdullah, Idris was in the dark about the plan to boycott the state assembly sitting.

idris jusoh pc 250308 04 "We made the move without him taking part in the plan...do you think we don't have capability to do so...we are not ' cap ayam ' (low calibre) state representatives," he told Malaysiakini .

He said Idris ( right ) could not be contacted before the boycott and was only informed after the incident took place.

Alias claimed that Idris was at his house in Besut at the time.

"He (Idris) did not know that we were going to boycott the state assembly sitting, but when we told about him after that, he only said 'do as you wish'," he added.

Yesterday, 10 Barisan Nasional backbenchers, including Idris, boycotted the state assembly after three of them received death threats through SMS on Monday and stated that they would only attend it if their safety is guaranteed.

This took place following speculations that they were involved in a plan to move a motion of no-confidence against the menteri besar.

However, all 10 were present at the assembly sitting today after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak ordered them to attend.

'No unity government'

In a related development, former Terengganu Umno liaison chief and Ajil assemblyperson Rosol Wahid said the 10 backbenchers have lost confidence in Ahmad Said as the menteri besar.

rosol wahid Rosol, who is also the state BN backbenchers club president, urged the top leadership to act swiftly to replace Ahmad Said.

"This is our stand, all the 10 assemblypersons want him (Ahmad Said) to step down," he said when contacted.

However, Rasol denied that the 10 would form a unity government with PAS as rumoured recently.

"There are no talks of forming a unity government with PAS. We have dignity, there is no way we would want to form a government with them. We don't even trust them," he said.

The issue of forming a unity government was triggered by Umno assemblyperson for Jabi, Nawi Mohamad who revealed that there were rumours circulating among the representatives that the 10 would unite with PAS.

In an immediate reaction, PAS Batu Burok assemblyperson Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi quashed the rumours.

syed azman The question to form a unity government does not arise for now within PAS because Umno still holds the majority in the Terengganu state assembly, he said.

"Besides, it is up to the federal and not state leaders to make a decision on such matters... all this is being done by Umno leaders for their self-interests," he added.

Describing the boycott as a ‘psychological warfare’ tactic, Syed Azman said the move was designed to apply more pressure on Ahmad Said to quit.

"Many (Umno reps) have expressed their unhappiness with Ahmad Said to me...but I can assure you that no vote of no-confidence is being made," he said.