KUALA LUMPUR – Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar has confirmed that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is no longer the coalition’s prime ministerial candidate.
Responding to Muhyiddin’s earlier comments, Ahmad Samsuri, who is also the Terengganu Menteri Besar, said that the question of the prime ministerial candidate for PN remains unresolved.
In his statement on social media, Samsuri, who replaced Muhyiddin as PN chairman in February, emphasised the importance of strengthening the coalition and promoting unity among its component parties ahead of the next general election.
“Whoever the candidate may be, our priority now is to empower Perikatan and reinforce cooperation across the coalition so we are better prepared for the election,” Samsuri wrote on his Facebook page.
“What is certain is that TSMY (Muhyiddin) is no longer the prime ministerial candidate.”
Muhyiddin had previously suggested that Samsuri’s appointment as PN chairman did not automatically position him as the coalition’s candidate for prime minister in the event of a GE16 victory.
The matter, according to the Pagoh MP, had yet to be discussed between Bersatu and PAS.
Samsuri assumed the role of PN chairman on February 22, after Muhyiddin resigned from the position on December 30 last year.
The debate surrounding PN’s prime ministerial candidate gained momentum following PAS Youth’s suggestion of Samsuri as the party’s preferred choice.
Muhyiddin had been unanimously nominated as Bersatu’s prime ministerial candidate during the party’s general assembly last September.
However, PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang made a remark that the candidate should be under 70 years old and in good health, a statement perceived as a veiled critique of the 78-year-old former prime minister. – March 5, 2026