Overview
- PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said the party will assume PN leadership and expects coalition and party meetings as soon as next week to decide a chairman.
- Abdul Hadi signaled he will not take the post due to ill health and said PAS has many qualified figures drawn from both politics and technocratic ranks.
- PAS now holds 43 of PN’s 67 parliamentary seats, strengthening its claim to lead after Muhyiddin Yassin resigned as chairman on Dec 30 and prepared to return from London.
- Analysts and party figures have floated PAS leaders such as Takiyuddin Hassan, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man and Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, with Bersatu’s Hamzah Zainudin also mentioned, but any choice needs coalition consensus.
- Observers warn PN must settle the matter quickly to avoid a leadership crisis or split, and note a PAS-led bloc could struggle to broaden multiracial appeal, potentially discouraging partners like MIC and stalling initiatives such as Muhyiddin’s IPR.