Hello Umno & Pas, goodbye Anwar & Muhyiddin as Samsuri paves the way for Hadi's son with PN resignation

Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia 

KUALA LUMPUR (politicsnowmy.blogspot.com) -  In a shock twist of events, Terengganu chief minister Samsuri Mokhtar, the fastest-rising star in the country's biggest Malay political party Pas, has thrown in his resignation from the PN opposition bloc.

It is widely believed that Samsuri, who was the PN treasurer, had quit after the PN's founding party Bersatu had refused to concede the prime minister post to Pas, should their coalition topple Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's unity government in the coming 16th general election, which must be held by 2027.

"Samsuri is a party man. He follows the party line, so this won't be a personal ego issue but Pas wants the PM post, whether for Samsuri or for Hadi Awang or Hadi's son. But Samsuri is most likely to be the Pas poster boy, unfortunately Muhyiddin wants it for himself," a political insider told PoliticsNow Malaysia.

"I see Samsuri's move as the final ultimatum to Muhyiddin and Bersatu. If they won't yield to Hadi's demands, the next move is likely for Pas to announce its withdrawal from the PN bloc. That would be the death blow for Muhyiddin and Bersatu, so I believe Muhyiddin and his warlords such as Hamzah Zainuddin and Azmin Ali will do a U-turn, no matter how humiliating it might be. After all, they brought it on themselves," added the insider.

MUHYIDDIN'S STAR FADES, HADI'S SON GETS READY TO TAKE OVER THE PAS REINS

He was referring to the hardline Pas president Hadi Awang, who is in frail health and unlikely to be able to assume the post although there is talk that his son Khalil Hadi is keen to take over the reins from his ulama or religious-teacher dad.

The 47-year-old Khalil too belongs to the hardline ulama wing of the Pas party, which wields the greatest power and influence over the millions-strong Pas membership. The 54-year-old Samsuri, who got his aerospace engineering degree from the Leeds University in the United Kingdom, belongs to the 'technocrats' faction, which includes professionals mostly from Malaysia's civil service.

Khalil, the oldest of Hadi's 14 children, too has had a Western education. A graduate of the Al-Iman University in Yemen, he has a bachelor's degree in Islamic and Shariah Studies. He then earned a master's degree in Islamic Studies from the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom. In 2022, he obtained his PhD from the Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin in his home state.

Despite Khalil's strong education background, the 77-year-old Hadi has not fast-tracked his son's political career and Khalil currently serves as a member of Samsuri's state Cabinet, obtaining full state ministerial status only a year ago.

As for Muhyiddin Yassin, the former prime minister who held office from 2020 to 2021 was previously a senior Umno leader who got the boot after he criticized the then Umno president Najib Razak over the 1MDB corruption debacle. Muhyiddin then founded the Malay-centric Bersatu party as well as formed the PN coalition, which comprises his Bersatu, Pas and Gerakan parties.

"Muhyiddin's star is on the decline but he can't accept the reality. Bersatu did well only in the 2022 general election because the Malays wanted to punish Umno for Najib's corruption. Those were just protest votes and Najib is now in jail," explained the insider. 

"Umno is also on the rebound again, so Muhyiddin should stop trying to grab the PM post. Instead, he should worry about losing most of the 25 seats Bersatu won as even Anwar's own PKR party is likely to lose almost all its 31 seats. Pas too will be affected but not by so much. Most of its 49 seats can still be defended. The only clear winner in the next election is Umno, which many of us believe will see its 30 seats jump back to 50 or 60 at least," added the insider.

SAYING GOODBY TO ANWAR & MUHYIDDIN

So far, the humble and rather quiet Samsuri has not given any official reason for his resignation. However, Samsuri quoted American basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, saying: “I try to do the right thing at the right time. They may just be little things but usually they make the difference between winning and losing."

Pas was also in the news recently after Umno president Zahid Hamidi dropped a bombshell, revealing that he had been approached by several lawmakers from an opposition party to ditch Anwar and form a new unity government together. 

That party turned out to be Pas and while it has not officially confirmed Zahid's revelation, the alleged proposal was to offer the PM post to Umno, in exchange for which it must be rewarded with four ministerial posts in the federal government.

Many pundits following Malaysia's conspiracy theories-filled political landscape saw Zahid's bombshell as more than just politicking or 'BS' and predicted an imminent end to the Pas-Bersatu alliance. They also predicted an ominous end for Anwar and his PKR party.

"If the Umno-Pas alliance goes through, then Zahid and Najib have no more need for Anwar and the same for Pas with Bersatu," a pundit told PoliticsNow Malaysia.

"It makes sense because there is not that much overlap among the Malays who vote for Pas and those who vote for Umno. So these two can survive side by side and come to a deal more easily over who gets to contest what seats come the next general election. As for PKR and Bersatu, what little 'market share' so to speak that they have now will be swallowed by Umno and Pas," the pundit added.

Written by Wong Choon Mei, PoliticsNow Malaysia

https://politicsnowmy.blogspot.com/