Perikatan Nasional will discuss appointing a new chairman only after Muhyiddin Yassin’s resignation from the post has been confirmed at the next PN Supreme Council meeting, says PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
Tuan Ibrahim, a PN Supreme Council member, said the coalition’s top leadership has yet to convene to discuss the matter, essentially dismissing talks about Muhyiddin‘s replacement as premature.
“There’s no (candidate to replace Muhyiddin) yet, because we want to confirm the PN chairman’s resignation (at the Supreme Council meeting). Only after that has been done will the four component parties sit down and determine who will replace him,” he told reporters.
PAS has yet to submit a list of candidates for the post, he said.
Muhyiddin stepped down as PN chairman on Jan 1, with several Bersatu leaders following suit by relinquishing their posts in the coalition, including Azmin Ali, Ahmad Faizal Azumu, Dr Sahruddin Jamal and Hanifah Abu Baker.
PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang has since laid claim to the PN chairman’s post for the party, but also said he might not be Muhyiddin’s successor.
Other names being bandied about as possible successors from PAS include Tuan Ibrahim as well as party vice-president and Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar.
Tuan Ibrahim reiterated that PAS has capable leaders who are religious scholars as well as professionals, such as Samsuri, who is an aerospace engineer by training.
He also dismissed the notion that non-Malay communities would be alienated by a PAS-led PN, saying their critics should judge based on how states led by the party treated their non-Malay residents.
“No such polemic has surfaced in these states, whether among the Malays or non-Malays,” he said, referring to Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah, where a PAS government is in place.
Tuan Ibrahim, who is Pahang opposition leader, said the failure of PN component parties in wooing non-Malay support should not be blamed on PAS alone.
