KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang has rubbished claims that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had an agreement with Perikatan Nasional to appoint a deputy prime minister from among the coalition’s ranks.

In a video posted on Abdul Hadi’s Facebook page, he said that the next general election (GE15) is near and there is no need to have a deputy prime minister now.

"There were discussions, but there was no conclusion (on the appointment of a deputy prime minister), because we are busy with public matters,” he added.

Last Saturday, Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin announced that he had met with Ismail Sabri to discuss political appointments, including the deputy prime minister’s post, which Muhyiddin claimed was previously promised to PN.

When asked by reporters to predict when GE15 would be held, Abdul Hadi said that PAS maintains its stance that it would rather polls be held at the end of the election deadline which falls on September 2023.

"But if pushed, it can be held anytime after the next Budget is tabled,” he said, adding that the election date will depend on the global economic situation.

He also said that there are currently discussions on whether there needs to be a change in logos for GE15 — although he was unclear on if the symbol in question was the PAS logo or PN logo.

This was in response to Muhyiddin’s announcement last week that Bersatu and PAS had agreed to use the PN logo for GE15.