PAS set to lead main opposition coalition in M'sia, leader to be announced soon

Who will it be?

January 02, 2026, 04:42 PM

The Malaysia Islamist Party (PAS) has confirmed that following the resignation of ex-prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin as Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman, they will be the main party in the coalition going forward.

On Jan. 2, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang told Malaysian media that PAS is ready to "assume leadership" of PN, which is the main opposition coalition in Malaysia.

However, the identity of the next chairman, who will likely be PN's candidate for prime minister in the next Malaysian general election, has yet to be announced.

Background

PN is made up of four parties. Two of them, Bersatu and PAS, are considered the major parties within the coalition.

PN previously governed Malaysia in 2020 when then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad resigned his government and political roles, leading Bersatu to pull out of the governing Pakatan Harapan coalition.

Bersatu then allied with other parties, including PAS, to form the new government, with Muhyiddin as prime minister and PH in opposition.

PN would continue to govern until the 2022 Malaysian general election, where PAS managed to win the largest number of seats of any single party, but the PN coalition failed to gain a majority in parliament.

Anwar, as the leader of PH, became the new prime minister.

PN then became the main opposition to Anwar's unity government, which comprises the Pakatan Harapan coalition, Barisan Nasional (including Umno) and others.

What happened recently

Tensions had been building between PAS and Bersatu recently, and boiled over when Bersatu politicians withdrew their support for the Menteri Besar (MB, Chief Minister) of the small Malaysian state of Perlis.

This caused PAS to accuse Bersatu of "betrayal", and advocated for their party to take a bigger role in the PN coalition.

With Muhyiddin's ouster, PAS appears set to be a major player in the Malaysian political landscape.

Who will take over?

Abdul Hadi may look like the natural candidate to replace Muhyiddin, but he is 78 years of age with various health conditions.

The PAS president previously stated that leaders should not be older than 70.

Aside from Abdul Hadi, other candidates may emerge.

Malaysiakini speculated that PAS's deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man could be a possible leader.

Tuan Ibrahim is 65 and previously served as a minister in Muhyiddin's government.

Ahmad Samsui Mokhtar, who is 55 and the current MB of Terengganu, has also been touted as a possible future prime minister, notably by Mahathir himself.