KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — Gerakan president Datuk Dominic Lau today rejected PAS spiritual leader Datuk Hashim Jasin’s insistence for the Islamists to head Perikatan Nasional, backing Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to remain its leader.

Responding to Hashim who also said Muhyiddin’s selection as PN’s candidate to be prime minister must have consensus, Lau argued that the Bersatu president was the natural choice by virtue of being the coalition’s chairman.

"I also disagree with the statement by Hashim, who said that eligibility to become prime minister depends on the number of parliamentary seats and the strength of grassroots machinery.

"The reality is, we need 112 seats to form the federal government, not 43 or 50 seats.

"If it were solely based on seat numbers, DAP would have certainly nominated its representative as prime minister in the current government. However, this is not the case,” Lau said in a statement today.

Earlier today, Utusan Malaysia published an interview with Hashim in which he said PAS has not endorsed Muhyiddin to be PN’s choice for prime minister and argued that the position must go to a leader from his party.

He said PAS has more federal seats, a longer record in Parliament, and proven political network across the country.

Despite his party being the clear power behind the coalition, PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang is only one of four vice-chairmen in PN.

PAS controls 43 of the 67 parliamentary seats under coalition’s control, with Bersatu holding the remaining 25. The other PN parties — Gerakan and MIPP — have none. The affiliated Muda also contributes one seat to the Opposition bench.

The Islamist party also controls all the state assemblies under PN administration.

In the previous general election, a "green wave” of support — named in reference to the PAS party colour — was credited with propelling the PN coalition nearly to the cusp of taking power.