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Podcast  >  Evening Edition  >  Top 5 At 5  >  Top 5 at 5: Perikatan's New Poster Boy

Top 5 at 5: Perikatan's New Poster Boy

Dr Lau Zhe Wei, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, IIUM

23-Feb-26 17:00

Top 5 at 5: Perikatan's New Poster Boy

Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar from PAS, often referred to as Dr Sam, has been appointed as the new Perikatan Nasional Chairman, replacing Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. Samsuri’s appointment is viewed as a move to bring professional, technocratic leadership to PN, aiming to stabilize the coalition following recent internal turmoil within component parties like Bersatu, which resulted in the dismissal of various high profile members, including Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin. We get into it with Dr Lau Zhe Wei, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science at IIUM. (Starts at 24:17)

• Trump raises tariffs by 15%: This comes just a day after a US Supreme Court ruling which found the US President overstepped his authority when he imposed sweeping global tariffs last year using emergency powers. We hear from Yin Shao Loong, Deputy Director of Khazanah Research Institute and Jaideep Singh, research analyst at ISIS for their views on the matter. (Starts at 16:21)

• Rafizi's very own political party?: The Pandan MP said that he will be defending his Parliamentary seat in the next general election, but it likely won't be as a member of PKR. In fact, he said the only reason he remains a PKR member today is because of the anti-hopping law. We discuss whether Malaysia needs another political party? (Starts at 10:14)

• AG-PP Bill tabled: The government has tabled the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2026, introducing major changes to formally separate the roles of the attorney-general and the public prosecutor. Ngeow Chow Ying, convenor of Projek Sama shares her thoughts on the bill. (Starts at 4:44)

• Punch drunk in love: Punch, the Japanese macaque who's been living at the Ichikawa City Zoo with a stuffed orangutan has quietly become the internet’s latest unlikely star. We discuss why the world is so invested. (Starts at 0:23)

Image Credit: Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar Facebook

Produced by: Sneha Harikannan, Sudais Ferhard, Dashran Yohan, Juliet Jacobs

Presented by: Sharaad Kuttan, Dashran Yohan


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Categories:  politicsgovernmentinternationalLaw/Activismcorruptionenvironmentcontroversies

Tags:  Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar PNAttorney General Public Prosecutor separationMalaysia Constitution Amendment Bill 2026Ichikawa City Zoo Punchpunch the macaquePerikatan Nasional politicsTrump tariffsus supreme courtrafizi ramlimalaysia politics





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