PETALING JAYA: There are leaders in PAS qualified to become prime minister, but the party will name its candidate only when the time is right, says a party leader.
PAS deputy secretary-general Syahir Sulaiman said the party has potential candidates at parliamentary and state levels, including members of its central committee, aged in their 40s to 60s.
The lineup showed that PAS has leaders capable of taking on the country’s top government post, said Syahir, who is MP for Bachok.
He added that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang might already have someone in mind for a prime minister candidate.
“There is only one reason PAS has yet to name its prime ministerial candidate: the time has not come. When the time is right, a better prime minister for Malaysia will emerge,” he said in a statement.
Syahir was responding to an FMT report quoting an analyst who said the party's reluctance to name a candidate raised questions about who could win the public’s confidence to lead the country.
International Islamic University Malaysia’s Syaza Shukri was quoted saying the uncertainty could be suggested as PAS not being confident enough to put Terengganu chief minister Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar forward as its leading candidate. Samsuri is also a PAS vice-president and Perikatan Nasional chairman.
Syahir pointed to the appointment of four PAS chief ministers: Samsuri in Terengganu, Sanusi Nor in Kedah, Nassuruddin Daud in Kelantan and Shukri Ramli in Perlis.
He said the party selected them based on their qualifications and abilities rather than because they sought the positions. “They are qualified and capable, and most importantly have never asked for their positions,” Syahir said.