State polls: I don’t want to be Kelantan MB, I’m ill, says Ahmad Yakob

WAKAF BARU: Datuk Ahmad Yakob says he does not want to be Kelantan mentri besar any more.

The caretaker MB said it’s because he is old and has health issues.

“I don’t want to be mentri besar because I suffered two falls recently which possibly caused a slipped disc and I also have heart problems,” he said at the SMK Kampung Laut voting station here.

Ahmad said he had informed PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang early in the year that he was no longer keen on the post.

When asked about the proposal for new candidates for the post, Ahmad said it will be decided after the state election results later Saturday (Aug 12).

“The PAS president will choose at least three mentri besar candidates and give the names to the Sultan of Kelantan,” he said.

Ahmad added that the state’s new mentri besar should persevere through the challenges.

He also said he didn’t know anything about the deputy mentri besar post.

He said caretaker Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah would know best.

Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan had said PAS will propose that following the state polls today, Kelantan be helmed by a combination of someone with a religious background and the other a technocrat.

“We propose that the posts of Kelantan mentri besar and his deputy combine someone with a religious background and the other from a technocratic background,” Takiyuddin said during a live video announcement on Friday (Aug 11).

However, the PAS secretary-general acknowledged this would depend on the mandate from the voters and remained the prerogative of Kelantan Ruler Sultan Muhammad V.