INTERVIEW Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) president Muhyiddin Yassin stands a better chance than PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim to be the prime minister if the opposition wins the next general election.

This is according to newly minted Bersatu secretary-general Shahruddin Salleh, who had served as Muhyddin's political secretary for 12 years.

"Muhyiddin is prime minister material, he has wide experience in running the state, managing a party and ministry.

"He has the ability and criteria to be a prime minister. I am of the view that no other person in any other party has such leadership qualities," he said in an interview with Malaysiakini on Wednesday.

The Jorak state assemblyperson rocked Umno's southern stronghold of Johor when he defected to Bersatu last week.

Shahruddin said Muhyiddin, who was vocal on 1MDB issues when he was the country's number two, has the ability to bring Malaysia out of the 1MDB crisis.

"Anwar? He has his own constraints. To be realistic, the circumstances did not favour him," he said.

Anwar 'not eligible'

Anwar, who has been serving a five-year jail term since February 10, 2015, will be barred from a general election in five years from the day of his release, according to Shahruddin.

"If we are going for elections next year, Muhyiddin is qualified to contest, not Anwar.

"I don't deny that Anwar has the ability. I can become prime minister too, if this is so," he said.

As such, Shahruddin said he will propose the party to endorse Muhyiddin as Bersatu's choice of premier candidate.

The matter of the opposition premiership candidate will then be subject to discussion and decision among the parties, he said.

"We will accept the decision. We want to win the poll," he said.

Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said two weeks ago Muhyiddin is the opposition front's most likely choice of prime minister.

In an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, Mahathir however appeared to be hesitant and of two minds over the candidate.

When asked about the perceived change in Mahathir's attitude, Shahruddin said, "You criticised him (Mahathir), he did not want things to drag on. He did not want to create unnecessary feelings among others."

Observers had questioned whether Muhyiddin, the former deputy prime minister, was capable of leading the country, noting his lack of meaningful action after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak axed him from the cabinet.

"Everyone has their own style. Muhyiddin is a performer and it is proven in his track record.

"But the people prefer an aggressive leadership style," he said.

Planned to join later

Shahruddin, an academician-turned-politician, had been active in Umno for the past 20 years. He was Muhyiddin's political secretary from 1998 until the latter's appointment as deputy prime minister in 2009.

On Oct 7, Bersatu announced Shahruddin's appointment as its new secretary-general, which prompted Umno to sack him immediately.

"Muhyiddin asked me two months ago if I wished to take up the responsibility....He had three or four candidates for the secretary-general post," he said.

He revealed his original plan was only to join Bersatu after Parliament was dissolved for the next general election, but later decided to join now and contribute to the party.

Shahruddin was formerly a civil engineering lecturer at UiTM Shah Alam and was later made rector of UiTM Johor in Segamat.

The 60-year-old was fielded in the Jorak state seat in the 2008 and 2013 general elections.

Shahruddin's departure from Umno caused Johor BN to lose its two-thirds majority in the state assembly.

Johor BN now has 37 state assemblypersons instead of 38, while the state opposition has increased from 18 to 19 assemblypersons.

Shahruddin said Bersatu has recruited approximately 20,000 new members in the past three weeks and 60 percent of them under 40 years old.

They aim to recruit the existing four million Malays who are not members of any party, he said.

Yesterday: Bersatu sec-gen denies being racist, explains 'strip citizenship' remark