Who are the five in the race to succeed Malaysia PM Anwar for the country’s top job?

KUALA LUMPUR – The sun has yet to set on Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s first term in power, but Malaysia’s cast of hopefuls are already gearing up for the battle ahead.

Datuk Seri Anwar is only 3½ years into his five-year term, but the race to succeed – or unseat – him is very much on. Chatter about early snap polls well ahead of the February 2028 deadline is growing louder by the day.

In the opposition’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) stable, Terengganu Chief Minister Samsuri Mokhtar has emerged as a dark horse-turned-front runner after his coalition swept all 32 state seats in 2023. After the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) vice-president was handed the PN chairmanship in February, he was also made Parliamentary Opposition Leader on May 16, replacing Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin. However, Mr Hamzah, sacked from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia while he was deputy president, is not hanging around and is manoeuvring to ease former PM Muhyiddin Yassin aside as PAS’ main ally in the PN coalition.

On Mr Anwar’s side, storm clouds are gathering. He faces pushback from key ally UMNO, as well as leaders from his own Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.

And if Mr Anwar prevails at the 16th general election, it merely increases the length of the climb. His administration is seeking to cap the prime ministership at 10 years by July, after an earlier attempt in March was just two votes shy because eight government MPs were absent. This means Malaysia will need an 11th PM after the next five-year term is done.

Winning the top job, however, is not just about who is closest to the peak. In a coalition-dependent system with a wide spectrum of voters to please, the real prize goes to whoever can present themselves as the most acceptable choice to be carried on the shoulders of other leaders.

So who are the new contenders in the running? We break down the field:

Datuk Seri Samsuri Mokhtar

Age: 55

Party: Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS)

Why him: Every prime minister that has taken power after an election was a coalition chief. While he is not formally named as PN’s or even PAS’ prime ministerial candidate, being chairman of the main opposition pact and taking the role of opposition leader in Parliament places him in pole position should PN succeed in winning the most seats at the next polls.

Why not: Even PAS president Hadi Awang has admitted privately that Malaysia may not yet be ready for the Islamist party to lead the government despite already having the most MPs. Hence, Tan Sri Hadi’s protege Dr Samsuri’s rise is meant to project a more professional image of PAS. 

But leapfrogging to the PN chairmanship has not made him popular with other factions in the party. This means Dr Samsuri faces the twin tasks of consolidating his base internally as well as reaching outside of PAS’ conservative Muslim strongholds if he is to become prime minister.

What next: Ensuring PN is the largest coalition and PAS the largest party after the 16th general election will be a must. Only then will other blocs be willing to come to the table, especially the likes of Gabungan Parti Sarawak and Sabah-based outfits who find PAS’ brand of Islamist politics at odds with the dynamics in their Borneon states.

Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof

Age: 64

Party: Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB)

Why him: As PH, BN and PN wrestle for primacy in the rest of Malaysia, the PBB-led Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) has remained a constant, dominating the eastern state and playing kingmaker for three administrations going back to 2020. 

GPS’ stranglehold on Sarawak, home to 31 parliamentary seats, appears to be growing and neighbouring Sabah (25 seats) tends to follow Sarawak’s lead, creating a so-called “Borneo Bloc”. Having become east Malaysia’s first ever DPM in 2022, Mr Fadillah could potentially command the backing of over 50 MPs after the next polls.

Why not: Mr Fadillah is a dark horse choice as every prime minister so far has been a Malay hailing from the peninsula. An east Malaysian leading the country would shock the system and even former UMNO vice-president Shafie Apdal’s – an ex-Sabah chief minister and Cabinet minister – bid in 2021 fell short. 

He will also need the blessing of PBB and GPS – by convention its leader is the premier of Sarawak, rather than a federal minister – as taking over the federal government could strategically undermine their “Sarawak First” branding.

What next: On at least two occasions since the 2022 election, a PM from GPS was mooted as an option to resolve a deadlock between the three peninsula-based coalitions. But GPS chief Abang Johari Openg has been wary as to whether it would really be able to lead the country, or be led by the nose by larger blocs. 

However, if PN are split between various candidates and UMNO refuses to partner PH again, there is a mathematical possibility that if local parties across east Malaysia back Mr Fadillah, he would command the largest number of MPs among the hopefuls at the negotiating table. Several parties agreed to compromise and back Mr Anwar in 2022 despite bitter enmity with DAP. They may find it more palatable to back Mr Fadillah and not have to explain cooperating with DAP to their constituents.

Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi

Age: 73

Party: UMNO

Why him: Dr Zahid is the only UMNO president since Malaysia’s independence not to become prime minister, although this is his second stint as deputy PM. Despite suffering successively worse election results over the past two decades, UMNO remains an institution, having been in government for all except 22 months of the nation’s history. 

Several of its figures in the past have been seen as suitable compromise candidates between feuding factions including veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Datuk Seri Ismail, who became PM in 2021. With his corruption charges now dropped, Dr Zahid could be the next such face.

Why not: Several reasons. Chief of them is that he remains tainted by the graft charges being dropped despite a prima facie case having been established. The view that he is tethered to PH chief Anwar also undermines his authority among UMNO supporters. These and clashes in recent years have also soured relations with his PAS and Bersatu counterparts.

What next: UMNO rank-and-file are already agitating to end the electoral pact with PH when the general election takes place, as the feeling is that the Anwar administration has not done enough to help UMNO reclaim the support of the Malay majority. 

Upcoming state polls in Melaka and Johor – due by 2026 and mid-2027 respectively – could be important test cases for this strategy unless Mr Anwar dissolves Parliament early. The UMNO-led Barisan Nasional (BN) winning more seats than PH appears remote, but it could partner with PN, who are themselves at odds over who should be PM, leaving Dr Zahid to step into the role of compromise candidate.

Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin

Age: 69

Party: Independent since Feb 13 after he was sacked from Bersatu, although he still remains a part of PN, having contested the 2022 election under the coalition banner.

Why him: By convention, the Opposition Leader in Parliament is acknowledged as a prime ministerial candidate. He may have resigned the position in early April after being sacked from Bersatu, but the fact that there was no replacement for more than a month is telling. On two occasions, when the Opposition Leader’s party eventually took the reins of power, they became prime minister, namely Mr Anwar (2022) and UMNO’s then vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob (2021).

Why not: Mr Hamzah and his supporters were ejected from Bersatu for agitating for former prime minister Muhyiddin to resign as party president. They are now homeless although Mr Hamzah claims the backing of 19 of Bersatu’s 25 MPs. He will need to find a new platform before the election if he is to make a serious bid for the prime ministership. Moreover, while he has decades of political experience, the former home minister has largely been a backroom operator and yet to become a household name among Malaysian voters.

What next: It does not seem tenable in the long run for both Muhyiddin and Mr Hamzah to co-exist within the PN framework. Mr Hamzah will first need to ensure that when push comes to shove, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) will ally with him rather than Muhyiddin. PN winning the most seats at the election will be the best outcome but even if Mr Anwar’s PH comes out on top, there could be a realignment of Malay parties coming together.

There are various efforts seeking Malay unity including UMNO’s “Rumah Bangsa” and the rekindling of Muafakat Nasional, which brought PAS and UMNO together for a time after the 2018 election when both were in opposition. An alliance of Malay parties sidelining PH would repeat the so-called “Sheraton Move” in 2020, which toppled PH through defections.

Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli

Age: 48

Party: Parti Bersama Malaysia

Why him: Despite losing the PKR deputy presidency to Mr Anwar’s daughter in May 2025, damaging claims of nepotism and vote-rigging has led to some Malaysians outside of the party considering Mr Rafizi as the torchbearer for democratic ideals instead of Mr Anwar, who had been the icon for reform after he was ousted from government in 1998.

Even within the party of the PM, the former number two retains significant support from nearly half its MPs as well as grassroots leaders nationwide. Many who are disillusioned with the Anwar administration are waiting on what “Team Rafizi” will do next, and just how large an exodus we will see from PKR to Bersama.

Why not: There are only so many voters interested in reform – PH won a parliamentary majority in 2018 on the back of the 1MDB scandal and anger over inflation caused by the Goods and Services Tax rather than democratic reforms and Mr Anwar was made PM in 2022 without PH achieving a majority. If these voters were split between PH and Mr Rafizi, it could result in two weak entities, a situation that benefits only BN and PN.

What next: Anything that weakens Mr Anwar will be a boon, hence criticism of his leadership over abuses by the anti-graft agency, claims of judicial interference and perceived overreach into non-Muslim rights play right into Mr Rafizi’s hands. If UMNO decides to part ways and/or the Democratic Action Party (DAP) quits the Cabinet or PH altogether, this will pry the opening further. 

But with his keen eye on data analytics, Mr Rafizi will know that there are just too many splinter groups and small outfits out there hoping to capitalise on disillusionment with the major national coalitions. If likeminded and moderate figures now on the fringes such as the Malaysian United Democratic Alliance founded by former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman can set aside their respective ambitions and form a united front, the cumulative protest votes from across the divide could be enough to put Mr Rafizi into the conversation as Malaysia’s 11th PM.