Melaka PN chief Mas Ermieyati Samsudin insisted she would not resign despite party president Muhyiddin Yassin stepping down as chairman of the opposition coalition.
The Masjid Tanah MP rejected claims that state-level PN appointments were automatically nullified by Muhyiddin’s resignation, stressing that such positions were decided collectively by the PN Supreme Council.
In contrast, state PN chiefs in Selangor (Azmin Ali), Johor (Dr Sahruddin Jamal), Perak (Ahmad Faizal Azumu) and Negeri Sembilan (Hanifah Abu Bakar) have all bowed out, with Bersatu secretary-general Azmin also vacating his post as the coalition’s secretary-general.
Meanwhile, Bersatu vice-presidents Radzi Jidin and Ronald Kiandee have stayed silent on whether they will continue as PN chiefs for the federal territories and Sabah, respectively.
Lau Zhe Wei of the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) said all Bersatu leaders should relinquish their state PN positions to allow the coalition’s new chairman to restructure both its central and state leaderships.
“This scenario, where some leaders resign while others do not, is going to make Bersatu look bad.
“It will make the party’s infighting appear more serious and suggests they don’t mind showing it to the public,” he told FMT.
Meanwhile, Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said it was only “natural” for Bersatu leaders to leave their posts following Muhyiddin’s resignation, to clear the way for the incoming chairman to make his own appointments.
He added that the refusal of some leaders to do so could complicate efforts by the incoming PN chairman — expected to be from PAS — to reorganise the coalition.
“The new chairman needs to be given a free reign in deciding whom he wants to work with in these states. What Mas Ermieyati and her group has done is therefore unusual,” he told FMT.
‘Continuity crucial’
However, Syaza Shukri, also of IIUM, said it was unfair to expect Bersatu leaders to resign in tandem with Muhyiddin, even if some have chosen to do so in solidarity with him.
“This is a coalition, not a government where we expect collective accountability. I agree with Mas Ermieyati that it is not wrong for them to stay on because these were not personal appointments and continuity is crucial with elections upcoming,” she said.
Syaza said more resignations were likely and aimed at pressuring PAS into assuming chairmanship of the coalition. However, she warned that they would only serve to weaken Bersatu’s position within PN.
Both Syaza and Lau also said mass resignations by Bersatu leaders would deepen fractures within the opposition coalition.
“These resignations look more like PAS being put under strategic pressure to take over after months of back and forth between the two parties.
“It definitely feeds the narrative of fractures within PN, where problems cannot be resolved behind the scenes,” added Syaza.
Tensions are high within PN following the recent political impasse in Perlis, which led to PAS’s Shukri Ramli resigning as menteri besar on Dec 25, citing an alleged plot by several Bersatu and PAS assemblymen to oust him.
On Dec 28, Bersatu’s Kuala Perlis assemblyman, Abu Bakar Hamzah, was appointed Perlis’s new menteri besar, prompting accusations of betrayal from several PAS leaders towards Bersatu.
Two days later, Muhyiddin tendered his resignation, which took effect on Jan 1.