PAS takes back Terengganu state govt

KUALA TERENGGANU: Terengganu has yet again fallen to PAS after the Islamic party secured 21 of the state seats on offer, enough for a simple majority in the 32-seat assembly.

It has also won six out of eight parliamentary seats, with Kemaman incumbent Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek from Barisan Nasional among the biggest casualties.

PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang successfully retained his Marang parliamentary seat with a majority of more than 20,000.

He did not contest in a state seat this time, which makes him ineligible to become Mentri Besar. The last time PAS governed Terengganu was in 1999. Incumbent Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman successfully managed to defend his Seberang Takir seat.

It was a terrible outing for Pakatan Harapan in Terengganu as it failed to win a single seat out of the 40 it contested.

State Pakatan chairman Datuk Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Ahmad failed to defend his Kuala Terengganu seat which he won in GE13 as a PAS candidate.

PAS’ Ahmad Amzad Mohamed defeated Raja Kamarul Bahrin and Barisan’s Datuk Wan Nawawi Wan Ismail with a majority of more than 14,000.

Abdul Hadi’s son Muhammad Khalil, who is PAS Youth Chief, has also won the Batu Buruk state seat for PAS.

Incumbent Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh retained his Besut parliamentary seat for Barisan.