Mat Sabu retains Amanah president post, Mujahid elected deputy

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu retained the Parti Amanah Nasional (Amanah) president post while Datuk Seri Mujahid Yusof Rawa was elected as his deputy for the new term.

Newly appointed Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad was elected as one of the three vice presidents, despite bagging the most number of votes earlier from the delegates.

Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud and Adly Zahari were elected for the two other vice president posts.

The top five leaders were elected for the 2023-2026 term by 27 party central committee members during the Amanah National Convention 2023 held on Sunday (Dec 24) in Klang, Selangor.

The Agriculture and Food Security Minister who got the eighth most votes at 613, was elected as party president for the third term, making this his last term as the party constitution dictates that a person can only hold the president’s post for three consecutive terms.

Mujahid, the vice-president in the last term, had bagged 699 votes from the delegates earlier.

He replaced the late Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub who passed away last July.

Of the 27 central committee members, Dr Dzulkefly garnered 900 votes, with Khalid close behind with 899 votes.

The party polls this time saw a total of 124 candidates vying for the 27 positions in the central committee.

Amanah’s topmost five posts in the party are determined by a consensus among the 27 top leaders elected by the delegates.

In his acceptance speech after being elected, Mohamad said that he had planned to retire from politics years ago while still in PAS but had been forced to form a new Islamist party by a group that wanted to leave PAS.

“They told me that they wanted to form a new party and that I must lead. Due to that, I could not retire. I know I am full of weaknesses and I was appointed as the president for the first time even though I was not the most popular candidate. As a leader, we do make mistakes.

“This time around, again I was not the most popular but the central committee decided to still elect me as the president. I recognise my weaknesses but I will lead as well as I can,” said Mohamad.

Amanah currently has more than 200,000 members nationwide.