MARANG, Aug 12 ― PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang said the decision to change the Kelantan menteri besar and deputy menteri besar, if PAS is given the mandate again, is to give the state a new spirit.

He said the matter had been agreed upon by caretaker Kelantan menteri besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob and his deputy, Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah.

"The menteri besar (Ahmad) wants to step down due to ill health. He is not well and has to undergo treatment. We also want to give Kelantan a new spirit, so that there’ll be change. That's why there’ll also be a change for the deputy menteri besar post,” he said when met by reporters after casting his vote at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Rusila in the Ru Rendang state constituency here.

He denied the change for the two posts would be made due to pressure.

Meanwhile, in Kota Baru, Mohd Amar said the candidate for the Kelantan menteri besar post would be determined by Hadi.

Normally, it is the PAS president who would give the name of the potential menteri besar candidate to the State PAS Commissioner to be presented to the Kelantan Sultan for consent, he told reporters after casting his vote at Sekolah Kebangsaan Panji.

Yesterday, PAS secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, in a statement, said the PAS-Kelantan government is expected to have a new combination of menteri besar and deputy menteri besar after this state election.

He said the new leadership combination would be a religious figure and a technocrat, subject to the mandate of the people and the consent of the Sultan of Kelantan. ― Bernama