Two Perikatan Nasional (PN) components, Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP), oppose PAS taking over leadership of the coalition because of the Islamic party’s hardline image.
Analyst draws parallel to DAP
This position makes them no different from DAP, according to an analyst.
Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Azmil Tayeb said such reasoning holds little weight, as PN’s preparations for the next general election depend heavily on PAS’s grassroots network and organisational machinery.
“The tactic of alarming non-Malay voters about PAS makes these parties no different from DAP, which uses the same approach,” he told FMT.
Calls for Muhyiddin to stay
Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin’s former senior aide, Marzuki Mohamad, revealed that Gerakan and MIPP wanted Muhyiddin to remain in charge through the PN presidential council.
They hoped this would balance PAS’s hardline image.
However, Akademi Nusantara’s Azmi Hassan said retaining Muhyiddin or another Bersatu figure at the top would not improve electoral prospects for Gerakan and MIPP.
“It would simply maintain the status quo, with both parties continuing to struggle in attracting non-Malay voters,” he said.
Suggestion to try new path
Azmi suggested that the two non-Malay components should consider allowing PAS to lead the coalition.
He pointed out that PAS had gained some non-Malay support in the past when it was part of Pakatan Rakyat alongside DAP.
“It’s possible that Gerakan and MIPP could perform better in winning non-Malay support by trying a fresh approach,” he added.
PAS claimed the PN chairmanship after Muhyiddin stepped down from the post on January 1.
However, Muhyiddin plans to abolish the chairmanship entirely and restructure the coalition’s leadership.
Under his proposal, the PN presidential council would handle executive decisions, while the Supreme Council oversees only administrative matters.
He stated that Bersatu and PAS had agreed to this arrangement, although PAS denied any discussion of the proposal with Muhyiddin.
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