How Muhyiddin outmanoeuvred PAS

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How Muhyiddin outmanoeuvred PAS

There is more than meets the eye in the former prime minister's resignation as Perikatan Nasional chairman

I have long regarded Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the shrewdest politician this nation has ever known; but is Muhyiddin Yassin poised to take over that mantle?

Unlike Mahathir, who once wielded absolute control over Barisan Nasional, the Bersatu president enjoys no such luxury.


Yet, despite this disadvantage, Muhyiddin has quietly outmanoeuvred PAS and his Bersatu deputy Hamzah Zainudin, to stand seemingly on the brink of reclaiming a powerful post in Perikatan Nasional — just a month after resigning as its chairman.

At the time of writing, Muhyiddin appears likely to be appointed to chair PN’s presidential council.

But how did he do it?

The first masterstroke was when he decided to tender his resignation, catching his own party Bersatu, PAS and even unity government leaders off guard.

That move also put PAS in less flattering light. Despite having the biggest share of seats in the Dewan Rakyat and the opposition coalition’s linchpin, PAS appears unable to dictate events even after Muhyiddin’s resignation.

The second masterstroke was Muhyiddin’s silence even after PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang declared that his party would take over the reins in PN, making the latter’s claim reek of arrogance.


Almost one month later, the post remains vacant.

PAS vice-president Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar was initially seen as the ideal replacement, until the party’s religious leaders argued — without disclosing any evidence, ostensibly on grounds of confidentiality — that it would cost them seats in Parliament.

To top it off, some bigwig from PAS then said that the candidate for the future PN chair and prime ministerial candidate must come from the ulama faction. Yet, no one could agree on a candidate and the matter was — to use an increasingly popular and controversial term — NFA-ed.

In the face of all that, Muhyiddin’s silence painted him as a respectable figure, even as PAS appeared to have shot itself in the foot.


Muhyiddin’s comments on his potential successor put PAS in an even more awkward position. He recently said the chairman must be a party president.

With Gerakan’s Dominic Lau and Malaysian Indian People’s Party’s P Punithan obvious non-starters, the only other candidate for the post is Hadi.

But Hadi is reluctant and would bring to the post his own set of problems. Surely he knows his appointment would put-off non-Malay voters, the likely kingmakers in the event of a Malay vote-split.

By his actions, Muhyiddin, in essence, is saying that, one way or another, the post must go back to him.

That PAS’s top guns would seek Muhyiddin out soon after his return from the UK has made the Islamic party come off as subservient to him.

And while we will never know what exactly was discussed, the optics have augured well for Muhyiddin as it was PAS who sought him out — not the other way round.

Just when I thought he had played his last card, Muhyiddin pulled yet another ace from under his sleeve, paying a visit to PAS spiritual leader Hashim Jasin, accompanied by the three Perlis assemblymen sacked by PAS for their role in the crisis.

And to top it off, Hashim appeared to side with them, suggesting PAS’s top leadership may have acted too hastily in terminating their membership — noting the decision had not received approval from the party’s Ulama Council.

Muhyiddin’s is no doubt a clever schemer to drive a wedge within the PAS leadership.

And he has not merely outmanoeuvred PAS. Earlier, he demonstrated to Hamzah and his three supporters who the boss is, affirming himself as Bersatu and PN’s undisputed leader and the opposition’s best bet to be prime ministerial candidate.

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