PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said he was not targeting anyone over his remarks that the party wanted Perikatan Nasional’s prime ministerial candidate for the next general election (GE16) to be a leader under 70 years old.
Hadi said what he meant to highlight was simply that he and PAS spiritual leader Hashim Jasin were too old for the role, Kosmo reported.
“I told reporters that those 70 and above like Hashim and me don’t need (to be named prime ministerial candidate), look for someone younger who is physically stronger.
“I was directing this at myself, not anyone else. We should choose a leader who has the knowledge, wisdom and strength to develop the nation,” Kosmo quoted him as saying at PAS’s muktamar in Alor Setar, Kedah.
Yesterday, Hadi said he was not fit to be PN’s prime ministerial candidate due to his age and health, maintaining that a healthier leader should be nominated.
The Marang MP, who turns 78 next month, specifically said PAS would choose someone who is “healthy and under 70 years old” as its prime minister candidate.
His remarks appeared to be a rejection of PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also 78 this year and was nominated by Bersatu as its GE16 prime ministerial candidate last week.
Muhyiddin‘s deputy in Bersatu, opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin, is 68 and has often been touted as a potential prime ministerial candidate for PN.
Muhyiddin, who had also attended the muktamar’s opening yesterday, said the PN Supreme Council would meet sometime next week to hold talks on the coalition’s prime ministerial candidate for GE16.
