Thirty-two members of the Terengganu state legislative assembly were today sworn in at the first session of the 13th term of the state legislative assembly at Wisma Darul Iman, Kuala Terengganu this morning.     

All the 32 Assemblymen from the Barisan Nasional (BN) and the opposition took their oaths of loyalty as assemblymen before the newly appointed state assembly speaker, Mohd Zubir Embong.     

Earlier, the session began with a proposal from Menteri Besar Ahmad Said that Mohd Zubir was appointed as the new state assembly speaker and this was seconded by Kuala Berang assemblyman, Tengku Putera Tengku Awang.      

Mohd Zubir, former head of the academic sector in the state education office, was the BN candidate for the Kuala Terengganu parliamentary constituency in the 13th general election but lost. 

Mohd Zubir was sworn in before the secretary of the Terengganu state legislative assembly, Azhar Jusoh at 9.42am.     

This was followed by the swearing in session for the 32 assemblymen led by the menteri besar, who is the Kijal assemblyman before the new state assembly speaker.     

PAS praised for behaving

The state legislative assembly sitting until Wednesday will be officially opened by the Sultan of Terengganu, Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, tomorrow.     

In the 13th general election, BN was returned to power in Terengganu with a simple majority when it won 17 seats while PAS won 14 seats and PKR won one seat.     

Meanwhile Ahmad Said praised the attitude of elected representatives from the opposition who showed their professionalism and respect for the state legislative assembly during the swearing-in ceremony at the first session of the 13th term of the state assembly.      

He said based on the professional attitude showed by the opposition, he was confident and believed that the state assembly sitting would run smoothly without any problem.    

"On the first day, the opposition had given good cooperation and I hope it will last until the end of the sitting," he told reporters after the ceremony.     

Ahmad said, in 2008, PAS Assemblymen had created controversy when they made an addition to the swearing-in script during the ceremony.     

"Today, this did not happen and the ceremony went smoothly without any problem," he said.      

- Bernama