Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will be attending the wedding reception of the daughter of Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said at his residence in Kemaman on May 17.

Najib said he did not realise that there would be a reception after the wedding which took place last Saturday.

"This was the source of the misunderstanding, but we have cleared that quickly," the Umno president told reporters at the launch of Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Berhad (PUNB) Auto Forum 2014 here on Thursday.

Najib also thanked Ahmad and the two other Umno assemblymen for the party spirit shown by returning to the fold.

"I hope this will be a lesson for us to strengthen our position in Terengganu, as we press on with our struggle and ensure the continuous support of the rakyat for Barisan Nasional," he added.

Ahmad's daughter's wedding took place on May 10 in Kuala Terengganu to accommodate the Terengganu Sultan, but the reception on the bride's side will be held on May 17 in Kijal. The groom's family will hold their reception on May 31 in Kuala Lumpur.

The Kijal assemblyman had caused a stir in the Terengganu political scene for quitting Umno, just hours after he was replaced by Datuk Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman as Mentri Besar on Monday.

Ahmad, who was initially joined by Aji assemblyman Ghazali Taib and Bukit Besi rep Roslee Daud in resigning from the party, was reportedly upset that Najib had removed him from the state's top job before his daughter's wedding reception was to take place.

The three assemblymen have since retracted their resignations.

The Umno top leadership should have handled the Terengganu political crisis carefully, using diplomacy, so that Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) would continue to gain the people's trust in administering the state, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said if Umno leaders used a rough approach, it would only invite problems like former Terengganu menteri besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said's reaction of quitting the party.

"If we had acted harshly, it would not be a problem for him (Ahmad) to leave Umno. It (situation) is not like in some states like Johor, where Umno is already in the members' blood. In Kelantan, is is difficult for party members to quit PAS or Umno as they have strong faith in their party.

 "Both leaders (at the federal and state levels) must accept the fact that mistakes had been made by both sides," he told reporters after receiving an honorary doctorate in political development from Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University in Jakarta, Indonesia on Wednesday.

Dr Mahathir said in Terengganu, it was not a big issue for Umno leaders to quit the party compared to those in other states, because "in Terengganu, crossing over to another party is normal and they like to try. They would try to do it in Umno, then in Pas and in Umno again.

 "It's their way, so we have to be careful as they can easily switch (party). It's their character."
Dr Mahathir, who is also former Umno president, said the political crisis in Terengganu arose because of the party's weakness.

 "Umno is weak now. The feeling of (party members) is that it is focusing less on the problems of the Malay community but more attention being paid on opposition parties, the Chinese community and so on.

 "Hence, there is dissatisfaction among the Malays. They support (Umno) not because of the leadership but because they dislike the opposition," he said.

Dr Mahathir said the Umno top leadership needed to understand the sentiments of the party supporters at the grassroots level to ensure continued support for the party, especially in facing the next general election.

He stressed that Umno leaders should not listen totally to the individuals around them, but should instead also listen to the grouses of members who always supported the party.

Dr Mahathir also noted that Umno had in many instances, made the same mistakes, but not many of its party leaders were brave enough to correct the mistakes, making the top leaders feel that whatever they do receives support.

"Umno seldom learns. I've said this many times before but they still don't realise it. We will lose (power) if Umno does not learn and repeats those mistakes," he said.

Former Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said has vowed to give his full backing to Umno and party president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak after retracting his resignation.


Announcing his return to Umno, the Kijal assemblyman said he apologised to Najib over his outburst and Najib in turn apologised to him over the misunderstanding over the wedding date of his daughter.

He told a press conference at his official residence here that he had met the Prime Minister in Putrajaya earlier in the day.


"At the meeting, we agreed that it was a minor misunderstanding. We both apologised and agreed that the matter has been resolved," he said.


On Monday, Ahmad quit Umno hours after he was replaced by Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman.