Langkawi MP Suhaimi Abdullah said the proposal to elect the opposition leader through a vote, as suggested by former Bersatu Port Dickson chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin, also known as Chegubard, did not reflect current practice.

He said Larut MP Hamzah Zainudin was chosen by the party leadership rather than through a consensus vote among PN MPs in the Dewan Rakyat.

“Traditionally, the opposition leader is appointed based on nominations by party presidents. I’m not against it, but I prefer the old method, which has worked well.

“So I believe the party presidents should sit down and discuss it,” he told FMT.

Badrul had called on PN chairman Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar to allow all opposition MPs to decide on the next opposition leader.

“Whoever is chosen by the majority of opposition MPs deserves to be the leader,” said Chegubard, who was expelled from Bersatu last month.

However, Suhaimi, who is also Kedah Bersatu chief, said an internal vote among opposition MPs could trigger factionalism.

“If there is a vote, I worry there will be two camps. There will be campaigning and rivalry because this position is quite high-profile,” he said, adding that the traditional approach was “more stable”.

Last Sunday, Samsuri confirmed that Hamzah, who was expelled from Bersatu on Feb 13, was no longer the opposition leader after stepping down from the post he had held since the 15th general election.

Previously, PN had agreed that a PAS MP would be appointed to fill the vacancy before the end of March, but no announcement has been made.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang said the new opposition leader would be decided before the next parliamentary sitting in June.

However, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin said the appointment should be made immediately and that there was no need to wait until the next parliamentary session.