Two PAS leaders want the question of Perikatan Nasional’s prime ministerial candidate to be put to rest, stressing that the coalition should move forward by focusing on strengthening its cause and strategies.
PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and Youth chief Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden said no more time should be wasted going back and forth on the matter.
Tuan Ibrahim said the question of who would be PN’s choice for prime minister would only be relevant if the coalition were to secure a decisive victory, and be in a position to lead the federal government, after the next general election.
“There is no need to lose sleep or exhaust our energy over an agenda designed merely to sow division within PN,” he said in a statement.
He said PAS and its allies within PN – Bersatu, Gerakan, and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) – must set aside such distractions.
“If we truly seek success, then let us reinforce our unity as we face the Sabah state election, the first test before steering our course towards Putrajaya,” said the Kubang Kerian MP.
Yesterday, Tuan Ibrahim said the party did not want to unveil its proposed prime ministerial candidate for GE16 so soon to protect the leader from personal attacks by rivals.
He had said that PAS had no shortage of candidates for the top post, but “past experience” had taught the party not to make such announcements so early.
A week ago, Bersatu unanimously nominated its president, Muhyiddin Yassin, as its prime ministerial candidate for GE16.
However, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said his party wanted PN’s prime ministerial candidate to be a leader who is healthy and under 70 years old, in what appeared to be a rejection of Muhyiddin, who is 78.
Muhyiddin‘s deputy, opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin, is 68 and has often been touted as a potential prime ministerial candidate for PN.
Meanwhile, Afnan accused the unity government parties of stirring discord within PN to mask their own failures in the administration.
“PN must not be provoked. There is no need to act like a ‘big brother’ or a ‘little brother’. PN is an equal partnership – equal partners standing side by side.
“All views and proposals should be brought to the negotiating table, with arguments, justifications, data, and evidence. Decisions should be made there, through consensus. That is the PN way,” he said in a separate statement.
