PAS used to name PM hopefuls, so why stop now, says Tun Faisal

PAS should be just as bold about its choice of a prime minister candidate now as it was when it previously floated several names, says Bersatu information chief Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz.

Tun Faisal was responding to PAS treasurer Iskandar Abdul Samad’s rejection of calls for the party to state whether it would accept Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as prime minister if Barisan Nasional and Perikatan Nasional form the next government after the 16th general election.

“Previously, there was no issue of PAS leaders being ‘too early’, ‘afraid’ or ‘shy’ about naming prime minister candidates.

“Strange, isn’t it, that the ‘elephant’ has suddenly become afraid and turned into a ‘mouse’,” he said in a statement.

PAS election director Sanusi Nor previously described the Islamic party as an “elephant” of a party in urging members not to feel inferior to smaller, newly-formed parties.

Tun Faisal said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang previously said the party’s choice for prime minister was Hamzah Zainudin, the former Bersatu deputy president and now Wawasan president.

He added that the PAS Youth chief in August 2025 had openly named five potential prime ministers: Hadi, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, vice-presidents Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar and Idris Ahmad, and Hamzah.

In September 2025, the wing at its muktamar named Tuan Ibrahim as its candidate for the prime minister’s post under PN, before switching to Samsuri in February after he took over as PN chairman.

Tun Faisal said Iskandar should simply explain that Samsuri or any other PAS leader cannot be PAS’s prime minister candidate because, so far, the Islamic party does not appear to have a candidate with the necessary experience and ability.

“After all, the PAS president himself has not named a PAS leader as his candidate, but instead named a leader from another party,” he said.

Iskandar yesterday said the question was premature and had not been discussed by the party. He also described the prediction by former DAP leader Ong Kian Ming, who is now a political analyst, that BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi would be the next prime minister, as mere speculation.

As such, he said there was no need to entertain Amanah vice-president Mahfuz Omar’s call for PAS to address the issue based on Ong’s prediction.

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