Terengganu BN Reps’ Flip-flop Resignations Not MACC’s Business

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The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is not empowered to investigate the brief resignation of three Terengganu assemblymen that plunged the state into a temporary crisis last month, Datuk Paul Low said today.

Low, who is minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of integrity, said in a written parliamentary reply to Rasah MP Teo Kok Seong, however, that the country’s graft busters would investigate the matter if a report was lodged with the commission and if elements of corruption were found.

“The actions of the BN Terengganu assemblymen who had left their party on May 13, 2014, is not under SPRM’s jurisdiction,” Low said, referring to the MACC with its Malay initials.

matsaidTeo said in response that the actions of the three Barisan Nasional (BN) representatives — former Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said, Bukit Besi assemblyman Roslee Daud and Ajil assemblyman Ghazali Taib — were akin to playing games with the Terengganu electorate.

“I call on SPRM to conduct a thorough investigation on the three assemblymen who had returned to BN,” Teo told a press conference at the Parliament lobby here today.

Terengganu was plunged briefly into an administrative crisis when the trio quit Umno on May 13 and became independent representatives, leaving BN with just 14 seats against Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) 15 in the 32-seat assembly.

The resignations turned BN into a minority government and vulnerable to a vote of no-confidence that could have forced it from the administration.

But the trio retracted their resignation letters a day later and returned to Umno after Ahmad and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak exchanged apologies over a “misunderstanding” over the wedding of the Terengganu lawmaker’s daughter.

Ahmad previously said his resignation from the party was due to the Umno president’s refusal to allow him to step down from office only after his daughter’s wedding reception on May 17.

Ahmad, who was reappointed Terengganu mentri besar for a second term on May 9 last year, was forced to step down from office mid-term, reportedly due to BN’s weakest polls performance in a decade. – www.themalaymailonline.