Not the PAS of old with people like Samsuri, says Bersatu MP

 

Bersatu women’s leader Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said Perikatan Nasional partners will determine the coalition’s prime ministerial candidate by consensus. (Keluar Sekejap Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: Kemaman MP Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar of PAS has been held up by a Perikatan Nasional leader as an example of “a good figure and a technocrat that PN can be proud of” when the coalition seeks a candidate for prime minister ahead of the next general election.

Mas Ermieyati Samsudin, leader of Bersatu’s women’s wing, said PN does not reject the possibility of a PAS figure becoming the coalition’s prime ministerial candidate.

“Many of them (in PAS) are seasoned politicians, and some even provide us guidance. Why should we reject a good prime minister candidate from PAS?” she said in an appearance on the Keluar Sekejap podcast co-hosted by Khairy Jamaluddin.

Khairy had asked how Bersatu would react should PAS, the party with the most parliamentary seats, decide to take a “senior role” within the coalition.

Mas Ermieyati, who is MP for Masjid Tanah, said: “PAS leaders today are not like those of 20 or 30 years ago. Samsuri is a good figure and a technocrat that PN can be proud of.”

She said leaders of PN component parties would determine their prime ministerial candidate harmoniously through meetings. “We have gone through a lot, and I am confident that we can overcome (the issue of prime minister candidacy) well.”

She said consensus is key in making a decision, pointing to the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional coalition, in which DAP has the most seats.

Samsuri, a PAS vice-president, is also the Terengganu menteri besar. He was elected to the Kemaman parliamentary seat in December, defeating his BN rival Raja Affandi Raja Noor by 37,220 votes.

He is popularly known as “Dr Sam” as he has a PhD in aeronautics from the University of Leeds.

Prior to his political career, he served as a professor at Universiti Selangor before becoming a political secretary to current PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang in 2008.

His first electoral contest was for the Terengganu state assembly seat of Ru Rendang in 2018, where he won with a majority of 6,028 votes in a three-way fight against Nik Dir Nik Wan Ku of Umno (BN) and Zarawi Sulong of Amanah.

He was then appointed as menteri besar, a position he retained after the Terengganu state assembly elections last year. - FMT