Embattled Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Ismail has the support of all but one division leaders in the state to continue as head of the state.

Former Terengganu Menteri Besar Idris Jusoh is the only Umno division leader in the state not to support Ahmad to remain as the menteri besar.

And even in that case, Idris is the lone voice in his Besut division as all three Wanita, Youth and Puteri wings of the division are backing Ahmad.

ahmad said terengganu mb pc 230408 03 There are eight Umno divisions in Terengganu and seven of them had given their full support for Ahmad ( left ) to continue to lead the state, state Umno secretary Rosli Mat Hassan told Malaysiakini .

"The state Umno leaders attended a meeting in Kuala Terengganu last Saturday where they expressed their support for Ahmad," said Rosli.

The state Puteri chief Nordiana Shafie was also absent from the meeting as she was on a maternity leave, he added. However she is believed to be in the anti-Ahmad camp.

"We will submit a report of the support given by the Umno divisions to Ahmad to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak," he said.

Idris is one of the 18 elected representatives in the state to have indicated their opposition for Ahmad to continue as the menteri besar.

Most of these elected representatives, except Idris, had lost in their fight to be retained or be elected as division chiefs in the party polls last year.

Only two other elected representatives are also division leaders - menteri besar Ahmad (Kemaman) dan Yahya Khatib Mohamad (Marang).

While Ahmad seemed to have the support of the Umno divisions, the opposition for him gained strength among the state's elected representatives.

Senator appointment an issue

Last week 10 Umno representatives boycotted the state assembly sitting and have expressed open support for the removal of Ahmad as the menteri besar.

And yesterday the number jumped to 18 , including at least five exco members. This was confirmed to Malaysiakini by at least two different sources.

Umno/BN has 24 seats in the 32-seat assembly. Opposition PAS has the remaining eight.

However it is learnt that Ahmad was unperturbed by defiance shown by the rebel assemblypersons.

He has met prime minister Najib to explain the situation and is still believed to have the backing of the Terengganu palace.

idris jusoh pc 250308 04 Ahmad was made the menteri besar upon the insistence of the palace although the top Umno leadership had wanted to retain Idris ( right ). His appointment took place in the midst of strong protests from most of the elected representatives.

Ahmad, after assuming the post, sidelined these protesting representatives and appointed state assemblypersons close to him as exco members. And he continued to sideline those who had opposed him.

This was seen as a main reason for the 10 to start their move to dislodge Ahmad from the post and replace him with one of their own.

Ahmad's decision to nominate the Dungun Wanita chief Zainon Abu Bakar also had not gone down well with the ‘other faction'.

However Rosli defended the move made by the menteri besar, who is also the state Umno chief.

"Zainon's appointment was discussed and approved by all division leaders in the state. However Idris did not attend the meeting," he said.