Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s bid to become prime minister could be strengthened if PAS continues to play a supporting role in a broader partnership with Barisan Nasional (BN) that wins power after the 16th general election (GE16), an analyst says.
Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said Umno would want to lead the next federal government and was unlikely to abandon that ambition simply because PAS nominated its own candidate for prime minister.
“It will ultimately come down to the question of which party is dominant,” he told FMT.
Although PAS is the largest single party in Parliament, Mazlan said its willingness to play a supporting role in electoral arrangements could strengthen Umno’s aspirations to lead Putrajaya.
BN and PAS cooperation in state elections
In Johor, BN won convincingly with tacit support from PAS, despite insisting that no electoral pact existed between BN and Perikatan Nasional (PN).
PAS contested only 11 of the 56 constituencies and urged its supporters to back BN candidates in seats not contested by PN.
Ahead of the state election, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang also offered to support a BN-led state government even if the coalition failed to secure a majority, without seeking the menteri besar’s post or state executive council positions.
Cooperation went a step further in Negeri Sembilan, where BN contested 25 seats and PN the remaining 11 under a seat-sharing arrangement.
Together, they won 25 of the 36 seats contested at the Aug 1 polls. BN secured 18 seats, including 16 won by Umno, while PN took seven, comprising four for PAS and three for Wawasan.
For the upcoming Melaka state election, BN chairman Zahid has announced that the coalition will defend all 21 seats it won in 2021, leaving PAS and its allies to contest the remaining seven.
BN’s determination to defend all its state constituencies comes despite its failure to win any of Melaka’s six parliamentary seats in GE15 in 2022.
Mazlan said PAS would have to support Zahid for prime minister if their alliance secured a parliamentary majority in GE16 and Umno won more seats than PAS under an electoral cooperation arrangement.
Hamzah’s premiership prospects remain uncertain
Mazlan said that besides Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, PAS could also consider Wawasan president Hamzah Zainudin as a potential prime ministerial candidate.
However, he said Umno’s openness to working with PAS should not be interpreted as a willingness to support Hamzah for the top post.
“Umno will never give up the position of prime minister to a splinter party,” he said.
Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani Ahmad Sabri of Global Asia Consulting did not rule out the possibility of Hamzah emerging as a practical choice to break a leadership deadlock.
However, he cautioned that PAS’s willingness to work with Hamzah did not guarantee its support for his premiership.
“Hamzah must show that his ministerial experience has translated into measurable achievements and that PAS’s support is more than a temporary alignment of political interests,” he said.
