KUALA LUMPUR: Former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim called for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang to step down, following the defeat of Perikatan Nasional (PN) in the Kuala Kubu Baharu (KKB) by-election yesterday.
Muhyiddin is PN chairman, while Hadi is the deputy chairman.
In a Facebook post today, Zaid said the defeat serves as a lesson for PN, which he said had 'nothing to offer'.
"As expected, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government won the KKB contest, and PN lost severely, although the margin of victory surprised many people.
"Looking back, PH won big because PN had nothing to offer; absolutely nothing. The leaders are very old, not just in age but in ideas," he said in his post.
He added that opportunities should be given to younger leaders to invigorate the party.
Zaid called for both parties to convene an 'extraordinary congress' and bring forth a new set of genuine political leaders to compete with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"Bring up a new set of real political leaders who can give Anwar Ibrahim a fight. Otherwise, Anwar will be a Supreme leader for a long time; by default.
PH retained the Kuala Kubu Baharu state seat when Pang Sock Tao won with a 3,869-vote majority after defeating three other candidates in the by-election.
Pang brushed aside competition from Bersatu candidate, Khairul Azhari Saut representing PN, Hafizah Zainuddin from the Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) and independent candidate, Nyau Ke Xin.
Pang , who is a former Housing and Local Government Minister's press secretary gained about 14,000 votes, and was way ahead of Khairul Azhari who gained 10,131 votes while PRM's Hafizah Zainuddin secured 152 votes and independent candidate Nyau Ke Xin secured 188.