KUALA LUMPUR – PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang should step aside and hand the party over to newly-elected Kemaman MP Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang has suggested.
Samsuri could lead PAS to become more moderate and open-minded, Lim said of the Ru Rendang assemblyman who is being touted by some on social media as PAS’ prime minister candidate for the next general election.
“Congrats to Samsuri for winning the Kemaman by-election… (now) will Hadi step down as PAS President to allow Samsuri to lead a PAS which is more moderate and open-minded,” Lim said in a statement today.
He said if Hadi stepped down as PAS president, Samsuri could lead a party that would “divorce itself from the hate speech and lies, falsehoods and fake news” that the opposition party has been identified with of late.
Lim also noted Samsuri’s training as an aeronautical engineer and suggested that he could take PAS to a “new era” that is “more relevant to Malaysia’s realities and needs”.
In an unnamed but likely reference to PAS’ Kepala Batas MP Dr Siti Mastura Mohamad, Lim added that Malaysia’s future would be bleak if PAS allowed itself to be led by leaders with PhD qualifications but who could not differentiate between truth and lies.
This is in relation to her false claims that Lim and his son Guan Eng are related to the late Malayan Communist Party leader Chin Peng and to former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. Siti Mastura is currently under police investigation after reports were lodged against her.
Samsuri won the Kemaman by-election last night with 64,998 votes, beating Barisan Nasional’s candidate Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor by a majority of 37,220 votes.
Samsuri’s majority is about 10,000 votes more than the majority by which PAS’ candidate in the 15th general election won the seat. Yesterday’s by-election was held after PAS’ victory was nullified by the election court following a petition filed by BN.
Following Samsuri’s win, PAS supporters have been suggesting on social media that the Terengganu menteri besar be the party’s candidate for the country’s 11th prime minister in the next general election, to be held by 2027. – December 3, 2023