In the 1999 general election, Salleh was elected as Terengganu State Assemblyman for the constituency of Jertih on the ticket of Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) which managed to form the new state government and had Salleh appointed as a Terengganu State Executive Councillor (EXCO). However he did not run again in the 2004 general election due to poor health.[21]