KUALA LUMPUR – Calling Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad an “untrustworthy hypocrite” does no good for PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s bid to become prime minister, said the Pejuang youth wing.
Pejuang Muda spokesman Abu Hafiz Salleh Hudin said party founder Dr Mahathir’s leadership is something that people “should not be questioning”, given how the statesman led Pakatan Harapan to victory in the 2018 general election.
He was responding to PKR youth vice-chief Syed Badli Shah Syed Osman, who earlier today issued a statement demanding that Dr Mahathir support Anwar given the former prime minister’s failure to keep his word on handing over the reins to the latter.
“For your information, Syed Badli, Anwar’s efforts to garner parliamentary support, following the infamous ‘Sheraton Move’ in February, were backed by Dr Mahathir and the rest of Pejuang’s MPs. But, Anwar failed,” said Abu Hafiz.
“Dr Mahathir has been consistent. He is open to working with anyone as long as 1) they do not accept Umno en bloc, and 2) they do not accept problematic Umno MPs, which, at the moment, seems difficult to do.”
On Dr Mahathir’s silence on Anwar’s manoeuvre to wrest Putrajaya, he said Pejuang has no choice but to adopt a wait-and-see approach, as the opposition leader has declared that the party’s lawmakers are not among those in his corner.
Pejuang yesterday named Dr Mahathir as its prime minister candidate, less than a week after Anwar had an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong aimed at proving he has majority support to oust Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s government.
Prior to PH’s victory in 2018, Dr Mahathir had promised to make Anwar his successor, and while the date of the power transition was never confirmed, it is widely believed that it was supposed to be in May this year.
The plan did not materialise following the collapse of the PH administration after Dr Mahathir quit as prime minister. – The Vibes, October 18, 2020
