A senior Bersatu leader has downplayed a suggestion from PAS Youth that Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar should be named the Islamic party’s prime ministerial candidate.
Proposal should stay internal first
Bersatu information chief Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz said PAS should first settle such matters within its own party before raising them at the Perikatan Nasional level.
He stressed that doing so would demonstrate respect for fellow PN component parties, including Bersatu, Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party.
Tun Faisal told FMT that PAS Youth should bring any proposal for a prime ministerial candidate to the party’s muktamar for discussion.
Only after that, he added, should the issue be tabled at the PN Supreme Council.
Timing follows Samsuri’s PN chairman appointment
The PAS Youth suggestion came via a Facebook post just two days after Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar was appointed PN chairman.
The youth wing described Samsuri as a calm, results-oriented technocrat who has lifted Terengganu to new heights under his leadership.
Tun Faisal noted that the timing appeared hasty and urged proper internal process within PAS.
Bersatu and MIPP back Muhyiddin Yassin
In September, Bersatu’s general assembly unanimously nominated party president Muhyiddin Yassin as its prime ministerial candidate.
Tun Faisal defended the move as fully in line with Bersatu’s rules and constitution.
He highlighted Muhyiddin’s track record and experience as a former prime minister.
Tun Faisal added that any final decision on a PN prime ministerial candidate must still go to the PN presidential council.
Separately, the Malaysian Indian People’s Party endorsed Muhyiddin as its preferred prime ministerial candidate during its annual assembly in October.
