Majority of opposition MPs wanted Hamzah as leader, say duo

PETALING JAYA: The opposition leader should be determined by the majority of opposition MPs rather than by the Perikatan Nasional Supreme Council, say an MP and a Selangor PAS leader.

Indera Mahkota MP Saifuddin Abdullah and Selangor PAS deputy information chief Nurul Islam Yusoff denied that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang was acting like PN’s “supreme leader” in announcing Hamzah Zainudin’s reappointment as the opposition leader yesterday.

Saifuddin said Hadi was merely representing PAS, as its president, in stating the Islamic party’s official stand, especially since it has the largest number of MPs among parties.

He also claimed that the decision followed the end of PAS’s cooperation with Bersatu and after a PN Supreme Council meeting that was held, though it is unclear when this meeting took place.

“Some claim this is a sign of the ‘mullah’ (dictatorial clerical) system that would be used if PAS forms or leads the federal government. This is just a repeat of the ‘green wave’ propaganda intended to spook Malaysians.

“The reality is that 43 PAS MPs and 19 other MPs want Hamzah to remain as the opposition leader. That means 80% of the 69 opposition MPs support him,” he said in a statement.

Nurul Islam agreed, saying Hamzah’s reappointment was consistent with parliamentary practice of opposition MPs selecting their leader in Parliament.

He also questioned if then PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin had gone through the coalition’s Supreme Council when initially appointing Hamzah as the opposition leader in December 2022.

“At the time, Muhyiddin left it to the wisdom of Hadi because PAS had the largest number of MPs in the opposition bloc,” he said in a separate statement.

Nurul Islam said similar questions could be asked of Muhyiddin’s announcement that parties under the loose Ikatan Prihatin Rakyat coalition would be allowed to contest under the PN logo in upcoming state elections.

“Wasn’t that also a political decision that should have gone through the PN Supreme Council?” he said.

Yesterday, Muhyiddin’s former aide, Marzuki Mohamad, accused Hadi of behaving like the “supreme leader” of PN, saying Hamzah’s return as the opposition leader was not discussed by the coalition’s Supreme Council.