Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today ordered all Barisan Nasional state representatives in Terengganu to attend the state assembly sitting tomorrow.

According to him, the threatening SMSes sent out to three BN state representatives warning them against moving a vote of no-confidence against Menteri Besar Ahmad Said did not come from the MB's office.

najib first sixth pm speech 040409 03 Najib, who is also the Umno president, said there were no plans to remove Ahmad as the menteri besar by any of the state's BN representatives.

He also denied that the latest developments in Terengganu could create tension in the north-eastern state.

"They should attend the state assembly as usual... and they (the assemblypersons) have denied making an attempt to force the MB out of the office," he told reporters after attending a function in Putrajaya International Convention Centre this afternoon.

Furthermore, he said, the threatening SMSes "did not emanate from the MB's office".

"There is no proof that the SMSes came from the office (as alleged)," said Najib, who also described the situation as "nothing unusual".

"This is something he (Ahmad Said) can manage," he assured.

The prime minister's reaction on the matter came shortly after his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin had given a slightly different take on the situation.

Muhyiddin: Not a boycott

Earlier today, Muhyiddin appeared to back the action of the 10 rebel Umno state assemblypersons who ‘boycotted’ the Terengganu assembly sitting today.

“Boycott? No, they did not attend,” he said when asked by journalists to comment on the rebel state representatives who are believed to be involved in a conspiracy to oust Ahmad.

“The aduns (state assemblypersons) have the right not to attend to the assembly,” said Muhyiddin.

muhyiddin yassin interview 100309 01 According to Muhyiddin, by not attending the assembly sitting, the 10 did not threaten the position of ruling BN coalition as it has a sizable majority in the state.

Of the 32 seats in the state assembly, BN controlled 24 while opposition has eight seats.

However, Muhyiddin conceded that he had a meeting with some of the ‘missing’ representatives.

“I haven't got the latest report. I met them (the state representatives) a few days back,” said Muhyiddin.

“The matter is of concern to me as Umno deputy president and to the PM as party president. We don't want to see problems growing over there. We have to resolve the issues.”

When asked about Ahmad’s performance as menteri besar over the past one year, he said: “Well, he's the MB. He does what he's supposed to do. Beyond being MB, there could be other issues that need to be addressed.”

Threatening SMSes

Muhyiddin also said that he will be meeting Ahmad soon to find out more about the squabble.

The situation in Terengganu came to a boil today when 10 BN state representatives missed the assembly sitting after stating that they were worried for their safety.

This was because last night three of them had received SMSes telling them to value their lives, purportedly from a high-ranking civil servant in the state.

It was speculated that some BN backbenchers were hatching a plan to oust Ahmad as the menteri besar.

However, such a move did not materialise in the assembly sitting, which started yesterday. The session ends tomorrow.

Malaysiakini learnt that both Najib and Muhyiddin were aware of the unhappiness among the BN state representatives over Ahmad's administration.

A group of state assemblypersons led by Rosol Wahid (Ajil) had met with Najib on April 8 in Putrajaya and on last Sunday, some of them had also met with Muhyiddin.

In another development, Ahmad's senior private secretary Wan Ahmad Wan Muda lodged a police report denying any role in sending out threatening SMSes to the three state representatives. He lodged the report at 12 noon in Kuala Terengganu.

Two of the state representatives who received the SMSes said that their checks with the state directory revealed that the SMSes were sent from a handphone registered to the senior private secretary.