KUALA LUMPUR (July 16): Former Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi has suggested that recent political developments point to Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi positioning himself as a "prime minister in waiting", while claiming PAS is seeking a route back into the federal government.
In a Facebook post, Puad argued that Bersatu would struggle to win even a single seat in the upcoming Negeri Sembilan state election and would be better off contesting seats allocated to PAS to test the latter's support.
He said such a move would also allow Bersatu to expose what he described as PAS' "un-Islamic" behaviour in its political alliances.
Puad also questioned Barisan Nasional deputy chairman Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan's recent remarks that BN would not contest all 36 seats in the Negeri Sembilan election because it already had "a trusted partner".
According to Puad, the trusted partner could only be PAS, noting that Mohamad had previously criticised the Islamist party as being "untrustworthy" and accused it of repeatedly betraying Umno.
Puad claimed the apparent shift reflects a shared short-term objective between Umno and PAS.
"Ahmad Zahid wants to become prime minister, while PAS wants to return to the government without relying on a backdoor change of government or waiting for the 16th General Election," he wrote.
He described Zahid as a "prime minister in waiting", suggesting that both parties stand to benefit from closer political cooperation.
On June 25, 2026, Puad left Umno, stating that he was doing so to save the party the trouble of expelling him and to freely criticise the party.