INTERVIEW After the widely speculated no-confidence motion in the Terengganu state assembly fizzled out on Monday, former menteri besar Ahmad Said has chosen to keep mum about his next move.

Asked about any plan he may have, Ahmad said he would leave things to God, though he coyly hinted that he may have an ace up his sleeve.

“I couldn’t know (what will comes next). I don’t know, I am not an expert strategist. I am just a man. But we must remember, that even one person can effect change, anything is possible even if I am on my own.

“The thing about a secret is that if you tell it to more than one person, it is no longer a secret,” he told Malaysiakini at his residence in Kemaman, Terengganu.

Quizzed about his political future, and whether he would still contest in the next election, Ahmad only smiled and said that predicting the future is not an ability that God has blessed him with.

“I don’t know. How can we predict our future. We could die tomorrow. I don’t know. I cannot foresee. I do not have the gift from Allah to see the future,” he said.

In the interview that took place for almost two hours, Ahmad, who was dressed in a pink chequered shirt, was rather emotional when relating how he was asked to ‘let go’ of his post of menteri besar, as well as the no-confidence motion he tried to table in the state assembly in March last year.

Indeed, the Kijal assemblyperson added, his relations with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak soured after he had to let go of the post, as a result of the issues related to his overthrow.

‘Why I was let go’

Ahmad also revealed five issues which he said were the main causes behind his dismissal by Najib. These are:

  • Matters relating to the formation of the Terengganu Investment Authority which would later become 1MDB;
     
  • The use of state government funds to construct the Second East Coast Highway;
     
  • The demand for the federal government to repay the RM8 billion in special funds accumulated from retained oil royalties;
     
  • Issues in relation to the setting up of the Special Petroleum Committee; and
     
  • The tussle over the Bertam 307 oil well claimed by both Terengganu and Najib’s home state of Pahang.

“As for these issues, when I was MB, I did not share Najib’s views on them.

“If I were self-centred, during the two years after letting go of my post, there were a lot of things that I could have done,” said Ahmad.

But he said he did not go overboard as he loved Umno, which he had joined since he was 18.

Other than that, Ahmad said, he obtained advice from a constitutional law expert, who was a former attorney-general, when he moved for the motion of no-confidence in the state legislature in March.

He said the decision by the state assembly to reject his motion, based on standing orders, is deplorable as it goes against the state constitution.

“I want to ask, which (law) ranks higher? The state legislature’s standing orders or the Terengganu state constitution?

“The state constitution ranks higher, and if for Malaysia, the Federal Constitution (is supreme). I referred to legal experts. I don’t really want to name names, but the person was a famous former attorney-general.

“The rejection (of the no-confidence motion) was deplorable and it will go down in infamy throughout history as what they did was wrong,” Ahmad said.

When asked why a similar motion was not moved on Monday, he gave a coy smile.

“We... have (our reasons),” he said, laughing off the matter.

‘Supreme council won’t expel me’

Meanwhile, Ahmad said the party was trying to dig its own grave when state Umno brought a motion to a supreme council member asking for Ahmad’s dismissal from the party.

“They brought a motion to the supreme council, asking for my sacking. Is that wise or stupid? The supreme council won’t dare to fire me because (the balance of seats will then be) 16-16.

“What are the implications? If they are knowledgeable about politics, I don’t think Umno will dig its own grave.

“When it is 16-16, he (Terengganu MB Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman) will have to tell the sultan that we have a hung assembly, and cannot come to a decision. He will have to ask for leave from His HIighness to declare a dissolution of the state assembly,” he said.

The tussle began when Ahmad was removed from his MB post by Najib in a controversial move that saw Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman taking over as MB in 2013.

Ahmad had tried to move a motion of no-confidence against Ahmad Razif in the state assembly, but his submission was rejected, and he reportedly threatened to resign from Umno and join PAS, which forms the bulk of the state opposition.

Terengganu BN holds 17 seats in the state assembly, while the opposition has 15.

If Ahmad were to really defect and succeeds in pulling away one other BN representative with him, then the BN will lose the state to the opposition.