DID FEAR OF MAHATHIR DOUBLE-CROSSING PAS MAKE HADI CHANGE HIS MIND? - SAMSURI TO BE CATAPULTED INTO PARLIAMENT TO TOPPLE AN ALREADY 'NERVOUS' ANWAR?

 

Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!

KUALA LUMPUR (Politics Now!) - The heat is on! Pas is ratcheting up the pressure on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim by closing in on a critical plan to send one its fastest-rising stars, the chief minister of Terengganu Samsuri Mokhtar, to the federal Parliament. 

Already the Anwar camp is showing severe signs of nervousness, with the ineffective Anwar ramping up the Muslim rhetoric by using the Hamas-Israel war as his current favorite hobby horse as he bids to burnish his credentials as a Muslim leader with the Malays, who form the backbone of the country electorate.  

"Now you know why Hadi opted against fielding Mahathir in the Kemaman by-election," a political pundit told Politics Now!

"Once there, Pas will have 2 prime minister-in-waiting candidates - Samsuri and Kedah chief minister Sanusi Md Nor."

Indeed, whoever Pas president Hadi Awang fields is bound to win the federal seat in Terengganu, where Samsuri already leads as 'Menteri Besar' or chief minister. The Kemaman seat fell vacant after the election court nullified Pas' victory there on the grounds of 'election bribery'.

BETTER 'PARTY MAN' SAMSURI THAN 'DOUBLE CROSSING' DR M? 

There had been attempts by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad to lobby Hadi to be fielded in the December 2 by-election. 

But Mahathir is not a member of Pas, the country's largest Muslim-based party even though he was recently appointed as adviser to the 4 state governments won and controlled by Pas, namely Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.

"It's not reasonable," Hadi had said.

And if Mahathir had been given the nod and won Kemaman, he would be in line to become prime minister again for the third time. And once prime minister, a post that wields enormous power, Mahathir might start to wean and distance himself from Pas' radical brand of politics. 

Mahathir, disliked for his racist mentality against non-Malays, is nevertheless remembered for having led Malaysia for more than 22 years in total and as such, has some know-how when it comes to international finance and investments compared to Pas, which until the 2022 general election was dismissed as a 'village party' that could only win in the more backward states in Malaysia.

Apart from fear that the wily Mahathir might 'double-cross' Pas is the age factor. At 98, many in Pas especially the supporters of Samsuri, might question why Mahathir should get the chance and not the 52-year-old Terengganu MB who reportedly masterminded many of Pas' winning stratagems.

“He has credibility and he would be better at raising national issues in the Dewan Rakyat (federal Parliament). But this is still at the proposal stage, and it’s said that Samsuri is inclined to remain in the state,” Free Malaysia Today had reported an unnamed source as saying. 

But would Samsuri, capable of taking Pas to the heights it has now reached, really want to stay "in the state" when the entire nation is his oyster, so to speak.- Written by Stan Lee, Politics Now!

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