PETALING JAYA: PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man has come to the defence of Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar after a party leader claimed that Perikatan Nasional (PN) would falter if led by the Terengganu menteri besar.
Dismissing the notion that PAS was at risk of losing up to 37 parliamentary seats, Tuan Ibrahim said the statement by Sungai Buloh PAS chief Zaharudin Muhammad was his personal view and did not represent the party’s stand.
Zaharudin is son-in-law to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.
“I think that is his personal opinion and that it’s detached from reality,” Tuan Ibrahim said, according to Berita Harian.
He said the performance of the Terengganu government and PAS’s state chapter under Samsuri’s leadership proved that Zaharudin’s claim was anything but true.
The Pahang opposition leader also cited PAS’s clean sweep of parliamentary and state seats in Terengganu.
“That’s an extraordinary achievement. To say that PAS will decline (if Samsuri leads PN) would not be in line with what has actually happened.”
Tuan Ibrahim nonetheless said that Zaharudin was free to express his opinions.
Zaharudin had cautioned against nominating Samsuri, a PAS vice-president, as PN chairman to replace Muhyiddin Yassin who stepped down on Jan 1.
He claimed it would be “bad for PAS and Malaysia” if Samsuri were to lead PN.
He instead suggested that Tuan Ibrahim take over the PN chairmanship and be made the coalition’s prime minister candidate for its 16th general election campaign.
