Sura assemblyman Tengku Fakhruddin Fauzi had said that PAS leaders possessed four key criteria for leading Putrajaya: being Malay-Muslim, maintaining strong ties with the monarchy, ensuring fairness and equity, and demonstrating creativity in generating state revenue.

But Mazlan Ali of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia told FMT that PAS would still need to convince its PN allies of this.

“While I believe PAS leaders have a fair chance of becoming prime minister, the party has yet to gain the confidence of Bersatu’s leadership,” he said.

Tawfik Yaakub of Universiti Malaya meanwhile said that PAS had to overcome Bersatu’s dominance in PN, especially since Bersatu leaders such as party president Muhyiddin Yassin and his deputy Hamzah Zainudin were also considered candidates for prime minister.

PAS spiritual leader Hashim Jasin had argued last November that his party was best suited to lead PN due to its larger number of parliamentary representatives and robust grassroots machinery.

However, Bersatu vice-president Ahmad Faizal Azumu said Muhyiddin remained PN’s sole candidate for the prime minister’s position at the next general election.

Gerakan president Dominic Lau also dismissed Hashim’s claim, saying the qualifications for prime minister should not be limited to a party’s parliamentary seats or strength of grassroots support.

PAS currently holds 43 parliamentary seats, making it the largest bloc in PN.

Bersatu won 31 seats in the 15th general election although this dropped to 25 after six of its MPs pledged support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

Under the leadership of its president Abdul Hadi Awang, PAS governs four states: Perlis, Kedah, Terengganu, and Kelantan.