Shields up, Dr Sam! You’re in the hot seat now

 PAS vice-president Samsuri Mokhtar, as the new chairman of Perikatan Nasional, has to contend with threats from within the party and the opposition coalition.

In their bid to wrest control of the government, an ulama-dominated PAS did the “unthinkable”, by naming Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, or Dr Sam as the technocrat is popularly known, to be chairman of Perikatan Nasional.

What does this say about his party’s Putrajaya ambitions? They are pretty darn serious.

But how serious are they about adapting a moderate approach in politics to win over non-Malays and secure a more comfortable majority? Well, you got me there.

Will Samsuri have a hard time with Bersatu and its president Muhyiddin Yasin and secretary-general Azmin Ali pushing to regain the spotlight in PN and also soon the prime ministership? I imagine so.

Will Samsuri also have a hard time with sceptics who think he is just Hadi’s “errand boy”? You bet.

But the million dollar question really is: who will be Samsuri’s real nemesis? Hands down, PAS itself.

It all boils down to why Samsuri was chosen as PN chairman in the first place.

Political calculations

I think that Muhyiddin (and by large his camp) acceded to PAS naming a vice-president for the post, despite previously insisting that a party president should be at the helm of the coalition, because he had sacked Hamzah Zainudin from Bersatu.

Muhyiddin had no choice but to terminate Hamzah or risk PAS backing Hamzah, a former home minister, to head PN.

It is not rocket science figuring out why PAS would prefer Hamzah over Samsuri as PN chairman. Hamzah, after all, is more likely to attract the non-Malay electorate.

Hamzah is also more acceptable to PN allies, Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian People’s Party who are likely to hold the view that Hamzah, the opposition leader (for now), would help the coalition tone down the hardline image it developed, courtesy of PAS.

If PAS were to have its way, it would want its deputy president, Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, at the helm. Samsuri is therefore an ideal compromise.

General election outlook

But how will Samsuri fare as PN’s poster boy at the coming general election, a role traditionally seen as the party’s likely prime ministerial candidate?

PAS has yet to say anything, although the ulama faction may not be too keen on the idea of Samsuri being a prime minister.

Despite news reports saying they were behind Samsuri, the ulama faction are likely to give Samsuri a difficult time. It doesn’t help that Samsuri is seen to be a lame duck.

Still as a potential PM candidate, Samsuri could inadvertently divide PAS into two camps; one for him, the other against, which – in the worst case scenario – could see one faction leave the party, as a party rift in the past led to Amanah being formed.

Enemies within

Samsuri, as some political pundits already observed, would be walking a tightrope between the ulama faction trying to control him and Bersatu trying to dislodge him.

It is his enemies from within, and not Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who will be his biggest threat.

I dare say that Anwar may just be an ally in the event Pakatan Harapan needs to choose a partner in a mixed government. It is a known fact that Anwar prefers PAS over Umno owing to the Islamic party’s ties with the PKR president since the “Reformasi” era.

Umno – its current ally in the unity government – has too many skeletons in the closet and is susceptible to internal rifts, which does not make it a reliable partner.

Remember the “rebellion” within Umno against Ismail Sabri Yaakob during his tenure as prime minister? And the anti-Ahmad Zahid Hamidi faction in the party?

Ace up the sleeve

Samsuri’s recent appearance on a podcast paints him as a humble politician who is somewhat reluctant to become the next prime minister. But it does not discount the fact that Samsuri may be the ace up the opposition’s sleeve.

Whether Samsuri likes it or not, and whether he wants to or not, he now has no choice but to start working on building a defence: the daggers, from within PAS, are already out.

So good luck Dr Sam, you are in the hot seat now, and we the rakyat are watching carefully how you navigate the complicated road ahead. - FMT

 The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.