Perikatan names Kemaman MP Ahmad Samsuri as new Opposition leader, signals openness to electoral pact

“KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — Perikatan Nasional (PN) has appointed coalition chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar as the new Opposition Leader in Parliament. The Kemaman MP who is also Terengganu menteri besar replaces Larut MP Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin who was sacked as Bersatu deputy president in February. “The council agreed to appoint Kemaman MP Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar to shoulder the responsibility as Opposition Leader,” PN secretary-general Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan said in a Facebook statement this afternoon. He said the decision was made during the coalition’s supreme council meeting at the Royal Chulan hotel earlier today. “The council agreed in principle to accept electoral cooperation or an electoral pact with certain parties that share compatible struggles and common interests with Perikatan Nasional,” he added. He also announced PN’s new line-up of state heads ahead of preparations for the next general election, as follows: Perlis — Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim Kedah — Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor Penang — Datuk Dominic Lau Hoe Chai Perak — Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu Selangor — Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali Federal Territories and Melaka — Datuk Mohd Radzi Md Jidin Johor — Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal Pahang — Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man Terengganu — Datuk Alias Razak Kelantan — Datuk Ahmad Yakob Sabah — Datuk Aliakbar Gulasan Sarawak — Jaziri Alkaf Abdillah Suffian The only state without a head for now is Negeri Sembilan, which Takiyudddin listed as being “deferred”. The question over who would lead the Opposition had lingered since Hamzah’s removal from Bersatu earlier this year. The Dewan Rakyat is scheduled to reconvene from June 22.

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