KUALA LUMPUR – A Parti Keadlian Rakyat (PKR) youth leader has demanded for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to support party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s latest bid to be prime minister or risk being seen as an “untrustworthy hypocrite”.
Deputy youth chief Syed Badli Shah Syed Osman said that such will be the public perception on Dr Mahathir given his failure to keep to his promise and make Anwar PM before the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government in late February.
“Even though PH is no longer the ruling coalition, the promise can still be delivered if Mahathir expresses his support for Anwar. It will be an adequate signal that he (Mahathir) is someone who keeps to his promise.
“But if Mahathir does the opposite, the people will judge him as a person who breaks promises, [a] hypocrite and untrustworthy. As a legendary politician, this will surely stain his name,” read Syed Badli’s statement today.
Mahathir was yesterday named by the party he founded – Pejuang – as their PM candidate. This comes amid the ongoing power grab initiated by Anwar, who had an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to unseat PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Before Pakatan Harapan’s victory at the May 9, 2018 national polls, Mahathir had promised to make Anwar his successor and while the date of the transition of power was never confirmed, it was widely believed to be in May this year.
Adding more tumult to Muhyiddin’s shaky position was Umno’s demand to renew the terms of its political cooperation. While it enabled the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government to form on March 1, ignoring the requests will result in Umno withdrawing its support to PN.
Apart from Mahathir and Anwar, Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah also had an audience with the Agong, offering his “sacrifice” to resolve the political crisis in his role as a neutral party. – The Vibes, October 18, 2020
