Zaharudin Muhammad also denied suggesting that Terengganu menteri besar Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar’s appointment as the new PN chairman would trigger such losses.

“It is not necessarily the case that if Samsuri becomes PN chairman, PN will immediately lose 37 seats. No.

“There are three scenarios. Mine is the worst-case scenario,” he told reporters after attending a protest against Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Azam Baki here today.

Zaharudin, the Sungai Buloh PAS chief, said what mattered now was for PN to close ranks.

“Unity is important,” he added.

Zaharudin also said that the chairman must be “an instrument” that unites all PN components, adding that if one component rejected the chairman, it would divide the coalition.

Zaharudin, who is also the son-in-law of PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, had cautioned against appointing Samsuri as the next PN chairman, saying this would be “bad for PAS and Malaysia”.

He suggested that PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man instead take over the PN chairmanship and be made the coalition’s prime ministerial candidate for the 16th general election.

Tuan Ibrahim however dismissed Zaharudin’s remarks as a personal opinion which he said did not reflect the party’s position.

He also defended Samsuri, citing the performance of the Terengganu government and PAS’s state chapter under Samsuri’s leadership.

Samsuri, a PAS vice-president, was named PN chairman last Sunday, succeeding Muhyiddin Yassin who resigned effective Jan 1.