Zaid dismisses Rahman’s ‘comical’ response to Dr M as PM

Prime Minister Najib Razak's inner circle fears no one more than Mahathir, says the former law minister.

PETALING JAYA: Zaid Ibrahim of the DAP is standing by his belief that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is the best person to lead the country should the opposition come into power.

As such, he dismissed Umno minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s mocking of the proposal, saying it was “comical” and “stupid”.

“How can I be desperate? Tun M (Mahathir) may be old, but he will definitely end this BN rule.

“(Prime Minister) Najib Razak’s inner circle fears no one more than Mahathir,” Zaid told FMT.

Rahman had yesterday mocked Zaid’s proposal of a shadow cabinet for Pakatan Harapan, especially the naming of Mahathir as prime minister.

“Why do you have to put forward a 92-year-old man, who has so many controversies and who is divisive, to win the general election?

“That’s how desperate you sound, Zaid,” the Umno supreme council member had said.

To this, Zaid said the public was now witnessing the internal collapse of Umno, hence the “comical and stupid responses”.

“That is what happens when you defend the indefensible,” Zaid said, alluding to the comments that have been coming from Umno leaders and ministers, including Rahman, over last week’s civil suit by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ), which sought to seize assets purchased using money allegedly siphoned from 1MDB.

There were a few surprises from Zaid in his cabinet composition, which he published on his blog on Monday, including a suggestion that there be no deputy prime minister “because there is no legal requirement for one”.

DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang was named as education minister, PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali as finance minister and PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin as minister for a new portfolio on oil and energy that Zaid said would oversee Petronas.

Zaid, who joined DAP in February, also suggested that DAP’s national publicity secretary Tony Pua be made trade minister, a role that would encompass both domestic and international trade.

DAP’s Liew Chin Tong was assigned as transport minister and PKR’s R Sivarasa as both attorney-general and law minister.

Other notable mentions were PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution as telecommunications, science and technology minister, Nurul Izzah Anwar as federal territories minister, PPBM Youth chief Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman as youth and sports minister and Amanah vice-president Mujahid Yusof Rawa as minister in charge of religious affairs. -FMT