No second chances: Pakatan, Warisan reject working with Muhyiddin

KUALA LUMPUR – There will be no second chances for former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin after “betraying” and “backstabbing” the cooperation that Pakatan Harapan (PH) had with Bersatu during the 2018 general election, said DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng.

Lim also denied that his party met with Bersatu chief Muhyiddin to work together to defeat Barisan Nasional in the coming general election.

“PH component parties reject any form of cooperation with Muhyiddin Yassin after his ‘betrayal’. What he and his party did caused the PH government to only last for 22 months.

“There will be no cooperation. How can he be trusted?” he was quoted as saying to Getaran, The Vibes’ Malay-language sister portal.

PH component party Amanah too said it did not meet nor have discussions with Muhyiddin. 

“No, I did not meet (with him). We have not discussed the matter in PH. I don’t want to make a decision as it is something we decide as a coalition, not as individuals,” said party president Mohamad Sabu.

Meanwhile, Warisan chief Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal revealed that Muhyiddin had reached out to him to discuss the possibility of working together come GE15.

“However, I already decided to reject his request. This is because of what had happened to the opposition bloc due to his actions. We don’t want that to happen.” 

PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said on Friday that Muhyiddin had not approached him to seek his support in the latter’s bid to become prime minister again.

Admitting that there have been meetings between PH and Muhyiddin-led Perikatan Nasional (PN), Anwar said the discussions of PH providing support to Muhyiddin to helm the position again did not arise.

“Meetings have been going on for a long time. I cannot deny that there are no meetings, but there are no questions about this decision of the coalition to support him (Muhyiddin),” he told reporters after an event to treat DAP party mentor Lim Kit Siang who recently retired from politics at Dorsett Hotel Subang.

Earlier, Pejuang chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad affirmed reports of him having a meeting with Muhyiddin, revealing that the latter had sought his help to regain the prime minister’s post.

However, Dr Mahathir said it remains unlikely for him to realign with Muhyiddin and Bersatu, a party they formed together in 2017.

When asked if PH would be cooperating with Dr Mahathir’s Pejuang in the looming general election, Anwar briefly said “the issue did not emerge”.

The talk of meetings also did not escape former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the Umno man yesterday slammed Muhyiddin’s lobbying.

Najib accused Muhyiddin of going behind the government’s back to garner support in order to bring down prime minister and Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob while openly saying otherwise.

“When he is called a traitor, he gets upset,” he said on his Facebook page.

“He (Muhyiddin) wants to be prime minister again. That’s why he got in touch with Dr Mahathir, Anwar, and Shafie covertly to get support.” – The Vibes, April 3, 2022