At PAS’s recent muktamar, a PAS ulama delegate openly questioned Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau’s ability to serve as chairman of Penang Perikatan Nasional (PN). Soon after, Penang PAS election committee head Mohd Shafirul Rozani echoed the sentiment, likening the coalition under Lau’s leadership to “a Ferrari or Lamborghini that could not be driven because the steering wheel was in someone else’s hands,” and urged for a new state chief capable of producing stronger results.
The public rebuke was sharp, but behind the scenes, PAS leaders sought to soften the blow. Lau revealed that PAS secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan and vice-president Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar personally apologised to him, explaining that the critical remarks were merely the personal opinions of “loose cannons” in the party and did not represent PAS’s official stance.
“They said the remarks came from some loose cannons in the party and asked me not to take it personally. I’ve accepted their apologies,” Lau told reporters after the Selangor Gerakan annual general meeting.
Still, the manner in which the episode unfolded raises uncomfortable truths. The rebuke was public, yet the apology was private. Lau, perhaps under pressure from being attacked so openly by his own allies, repeated the names of Samsuri and Takiyuddin in public, likely placing them in a difficult position.
This is not the first time Lau has faced such humiliations. During the Penang state polls in August 2023, he was barred from entering a PN ceramah organised by PAS members protesting his candidacy in Bayan Lepas. Takiyuddin also apologised over that incident, stressing Lau should have been welcomed in the spirit of Islamic hospitality.
Even now, the tension is unresolved. While Gerakan insists it plays an important check-and-balance role against the DAP-led Penang government despite not holding seats, PAS grassroots remain skeptical of Lau’s ability to galvanise support or coordinate effectively with PN’s 11 assemblymen in the state.
In response, Lau has defended his position, arguing that Gerakan had contributed to PAS’s success in winning seven seats in the last state election. He also dismissed Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Nor’s suggestion at the muktamar that some PN allies depended on PAS’s election machinery and funds, saying he doubted Sanusi meant Gerakan. Lau’s deputy later clarified that Sanusi claimed the comment was “just a joke to spice things up.”
Meanwhile, PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has tried to play down the dispute. He described the issue as an internal matter, likening it to “water swirling in a glass, which eventually settles.” According to Hadi, criticisms were normal in a democratic setting and should not distract from PN’s broader goals.
“What is important is that everyone continues working hard, and that is why we managed to win a significant number of seats. The principle of democracy in our party is unity, and we strive to ensure PN remains united before and after any crisis,” Hadi said.
Yet unity remains fragile. Within PN, PAS is the only party with real momentum. Gerakan has no seats in Penang, and Bersatu under Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin appears weakened and directionless. This imbalance is at the core of PAS’s frustration.
When one looks at Lau and Muhyiddin, the supposed faces of PN leadership, one can imagine PAS’s exasperation. Hadi Awang may be old and frail, but at least he is fully aware of his own limitations — and paradoxically, that self-awareness makes him strong. Muhyiddin and Lau, by contrast, are weak leaders seemingly oblivious to their weakness.
Muhyiddin’s opponent is Anwar Ibrahim, and Lau’s is DAP’s Anthony Loke. No political observer in Malaysia would reasonably bet on Muhyiddin or Lau triumphing against such opponents even in a 100 years. Only PAS stands as a genuine contender, with the strength to challenge UMNO’s Zahid Hamidi and the machinery to mobilise its base.
Yet despite PAS being PN’s only real “lion,” it remains trapped under a coalition structure led by men who act more like sheep. As Alexander the Great once said, no one fears an army of lions led by a sheep. For as long as Muhyiddin and Lau are in charge, PN risks becoming an army of frustrated lions who would rather sulk at home than suffer the embarrassment of being commanded by a sheep into the battlefield, or being manned by a battalion of sheep, that will run away at the first sight of battle.
In the end, everyone knows — Muhyiddin knows, Lau knows, PAS knows, and Malaysians know — that PN, under its current leadership, has a knack for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The only question that remains is this: when will PAS, and the rest of PN, act on what everyone already knows?
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