KUALA TERENGGANU, Aug 13 — Perikatan Nasional (PN) made a clean sweep of all 32 seats in Terengganu’s state election yesterday, leaving the state assembly without a single opposition member for the very first time in its history.

Contesting under the PAS party logo, former Terengganu Menteri Besar and PAS vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar defended his Ru Rendang seat with a 17,286 vote majority, beating Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Suhaimi Sulaiman, who only managed to secure 3,641 votes.

Two other former menteri besar of the state, however, were not so lucky, with Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Said, the Terengganu Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman, losing to state Bersatu chairman Datuk Razali Idris in Kijal, and Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman losing to Bersatu’s Khazan Che Mat in Seberang Takir.

Meanwhile, the sole Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (Muda) candidate in Terengganu, Luqman Long who contested the Bandar seat, and independent candidate for Hulu Besut, Dr Che Harun Kamariah lost their deposits after obtaining 372 and 180 votes respectively.

PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang commented on PN’s big win in the state, stating that it would give Terengganu PAS the strength to lead the state and solve the many outstanding issues there.

"Even without any opposition members, the legislative assembly can still advise the government. We will encourage the culture of advising in the assembly and the public are free to voice their criticism through proper channels,” he said at a media conference after the announcement of the state election results at Rusila Mosque here yesterday.

Ahmad Samsuri shared that the state government had no problems continuing its good cooperation with the federal government, stating that they were very accepting and hoped that the federal government would openly accept the decision of the Terengganu people. — Bernama