Talk of Azmin’s resignation surfaced after claims that he had sent a WhatsApp message late last night to a group of Selangor Perikatan Nasional (PN) assemblymen stating he wished to step down from Oct 1.

The message purportedly urged the 21 other PN assemblymen to discuss appointing a new opposition leader ahead of the upcoming state assembly sitting.

Utusan Malaysia reported that the message was deleted after reactions from several PN assemblymen, including Paya Jaras assemblyman Halim Tamuri of PAS, who reportedly called for the matter to be discussed further.

The daily also reported that an emergency meeting was convened tonight to address the issue.

“Not true. Stop the rumours,” Azmin told FMT.

“I am always optimistic and we (PN) are doing our very best to help the rakyat.

“I am grateful to serve in Selangor because the cooperation and bond between Bersatu and PAS here are very strong.

“We will continue to do our best and we leave the rest to Allah,” added the Bersatu secretary-general.

PN currently holds 22 of the 56 seats in the Selangor state assembly.

In June, Azmin, a former Selangor menteri besar, said PN could take over the state government by winning 10 more seats at the next state election.

The Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional alliance lost ground to PN in the August 2023 state election, claiming victory in 34 seats – 32 of which were won by PH.

This compares to the 2018 election when PH won 51 of the 56 seats. BN won four seats then and PAS one.