PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari said the party respects the ongoing investigation process and that the rule of law must be upheld.

“And in a country that upholds the rule of law, the principle that must be upheld is that one is innocent until proven guilty.

“We expect more of such cases to surface after this. In any case, we will remain calm and let due process take its course,” he said in a Facebook post.

Fadhli said the suspect did not need to resign from his exco post  since his role could not influence the MACC investigation in any way.

Earlier, Terengganu MACC director Hazrul Shazreen Abd Yazid confirmed the arrest.

The assemblyman, in his 60s, is alleged to have abused his power by ordering two state government-linked companies to hire two of his children in 2018 and 2020.

Hazrul said the suspect will be charged in court soon.

However, Fadhli was puzzled by the timing of the arrest, questioning why no arrests or prosecution had been initiated in previous years.

“In the past six years, did MACC not have any evidence? Has it only been uncovered today?” he said.