KUALA LUMPUR —PAS remains the most strategic and influential platform for Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin’s political future, while Parti Berjasa is widely viewed as lacking national impact, political analysts said of the ousted Bersatu deputy president’s possible next moves.
Datuk Professor Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi, socio-political analyst with the Academy of Malay Studies, University of Malaya, described PAS as the strongest long-term option.
“For long-term political survival, PAS is far more strategic due to its strong grassroots machinery, solid organisational structure, and dominant influence within PN,” he told Scoop.
To get a top post, Berjasa may offer quicker access to senior leadership positions, but its national reach remains limited, Awang Azman added.
However, Awang Azman noted that Hamzah’s political persona differs from the image and leadership styles in PAS.
“Hamzah has more of an administrative and Malay nationalist image rather than that of an Islamist ideologue.”
Nevertheless, he added that PAS could still position Hamzah strategically within its leadership framework without requiring him to assume a religious scholar profile.
Associate Professor Dr Mazlan Ali is of the view that PAS would benefit significantly if Hamzah were to join it due to his influence with Bersatu members who support him or are against its president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
PAS can strengthen its dominance in PN if Hamzah joined it, while Bersatu’s bargaining position would only grow weaker.
However, joining PAS may not necessarily be Hamzah’s best strategic move, Mazlan added.
Instead, it is possible Hamzah could form a new party that cooperates with PAS within PN, suggested Mazlan who is with the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Kuala Lumpur.
This would allow Hamzah to keep his leverage, while maintaining alignment with the opposition coalition’s dominant force, said Mazlan.
He dismissed Berjasa as an option for Hamzah.
“Although Berjasa’s ideology is not different from PAS, this party has no influence. Berjasa lacks the structural strength to significantly alter PN’s political balance.”
Hamzah, who is Larut MP, is speculated to join a party along with the 16 MPs who were expelled from Bersatu last week.
Others have speculated that he might re-join Umno, his former party before he left it to join Bersatu in 2018.
Since his sacking from Bersatu, he has been touting his movement dubbed “Reset”, which he said was not a political party but a struggle for nation-building. – February 21, 2026