BERSATU president Muhyiddin Yassin is PAS and Umno’s candidate for prime minister in the 15th general election, leaders from each party have said.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said in a Facebook post that the Islamist party is supporting the sitting prime minister’s leadership of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, as well as to be the next prime minister candidate.

“PAS is also placing its trust in Muhyiddin Yassin as candidate for prime minister in GE15,” Hadi wrote.

Berita Harian, meanwhile, reported Umno Supreme Council member Annuar Musa as saying that both Umno and PAS have “agreed in principle” to support Muhyiddin as the prime minister candidate in the next elections.

Annuar said this agreement was expressed at a recent meeting of Muafakat Nasional, the political pact that PAS and Umno are party to.

“For the next general election, in principle, both parties have agreed to nominate or support Muhyiddin as prime minister,” he was reported saying in Setapak Indah today while on a visit to hawkers in his capacity as federal territories minister.

“At our joint committee level in Muafakat Nasional, of which I am joint secretary, it is true what Hadi said, it is as we in PAS and Umno have discussed. In this matter, this is our stand, I can confirm it,” Annuar added.

Both Hadi and Annuar’s remarks follow a two-hour meeting of all heads of parties that support the PN government with Muhyiddin in Putrajaya yesterday.

All of them expressed support for the Bersatu president as prime minister and discussed strengthening PN’s collaboration.

Annuar and Hadi’s remarks mark the first time the Muafakat Nasional pact has endorsed Muhyiddin as prime minister candidate for the next election. 

Compared to Umno, his party Bersatu has far fewer MPs.

The opposition is also attempting to reach consensus on their prime minister candidate as talk of a snap general election ahead of the 2023 deadline is rife.

Muhyiddin currently has the support of 115 MPs, giving him a slim majority in the 222-member Dewan Rakyat. – July 2, 2020.