UMNO must prepare a candidate for prime minister from within its ranks even though Muhyiddin Yassin has been selected for the position upon Perikatan Nasional winning the 15th general election, according to party vice president Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

He said even if the party did not win the largest bloc of seats in the coming election it must have a candidate ready for the position and be prepared for any possibility.

“Even though at this time Muhyiddin has been nominated as the candidate for prime minister, Umno should not be rigid in its stand.

“We must have a candidate ready to gather the numbers from MPs if the situation required,” he said in a statement today.

The former Johor Menteri Besar pointed out that Umno had many candidates capable of filling the role: Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, former Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar and Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, vice president Ismail Sabri, foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein, and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.

His statement comes after PAS and Umno leaders said the parties have thrown their weight behind Muhyiddin in the next national ballot.

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, including leading the alliance through the next general election.

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

Umno Supreme Council member Annuar Musa as saying that Umno and PAS have “agreed in principle” to support Muhyiddin.

Annuar said this agreement was expressed at a recent meeting of Muafakat Nasional, the parties’ political pact.

Khaled said, following the 14th general election, Bersatu with the smallest number of seats had formed the government.

“It was the weakest party in the Pakatan Harapan pact but given the prime minister was among its ranks the party could lure other lawmakers to switch to its side,” he said.

Khaled said this made for an unhealthy political culture.

“We cannot agree to appoint the prime minister from a party that, politically, did not have the numbers and this will make for a weak government,” he said. – July 4, 2020.