Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said the two-term menteri besar was a highly popular figure among PAS’s grassroots as well as young voters, even at the national level.
He said Sanusi’s dismissal of calls for him to vie for the post could be a strategic move to prevent internal conflict while projecting humility and loyalty to collective decisions by the top leadership.
However, he said it would also appear as though new leaders could only rise up the party’s ranks after the old guard voluntarily steps down.
“If there is no element of renewal in the PAS leadership, it could cause the party to lose talent and diminish its ability to attract both professionals and young voters,” he told FMT.
PAS spiritual leader Hashim Jasin recently expressed support for Sanusi’s nomination for the vice-president’s post, citing his performance as menteri besar and his influence and popularity within the party.
Sanusi, the election director for both PAS and Perikatan Nasional, played this down, saying he was not ready to become the Islamic party’s vice-president.
Awang Azman warned PAS against being comfortable with its current leadership line-up, saying it could lead to a lack of fresh ideas and new leaders in the long term.
“The best move is to ensure that the party has open channels for talent development.
“Otherwise, PAS may be successful in the short term but risk losing relevance in the post-Abdul Hadi Awang era.”
Kartini Aboo Talib of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia meanwhile said that a lack of contest for the top posts could benefit PAS if there was consensus between the leaders and grassroots.
She said the current leadership had led PAS to its biggest ever haul of parliamentary seats in the 2022 general election – 43 in total, and the most won by any single party in the Dewan Rakyat.
“If many leaders turn down (nominations), it’s a sign that the majority of members want to keep the status quo since the existing leadership has seen great success,” she said.
Kartini added that PAS had continued to train new leaders although they might not immediately be part of the top leadership.
“PAS has a layered social hierarchy, with each layer (of leaders) trained and promoted in stages,” she said.