As questions loom over next PM, Nazri tells Umno not to betray voters

News of clandestine meetings and declarations of support from across the political divide continue to cast a shadow of uncertainty over the transition of power between Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

Amid the speculations, denials and conspiracy theories, Nazri Abdul Aziz has urged his party not to betray the trust of the people.

According to him, there should not be a realignment of political forces in an attempt to form a new government before the next national polls.

The former Umno supreme council member also argued that Malay parties alone do not have the numbers to form the federal government.

Umno and BN have 40 seats, PAS 18 and Bersatu 26 which equate to just 84 seats, which is 32 seats short of a simple majority.

However, activist group Otai Reformis had calculated that if this alliance were to include Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali and 15 PKR lawmakers loyal to him as well as support from Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), it would have a total of 118 seats.

Commenting on this, Nazri argued that forming a government in this manner would be akin to shortchanging the people who voted for a Pakatan Harapan government in the last general election.

"The rakyat clearly rejected BN and wanted Harapan for five years. Don't play out the rakyat and please respect their decision," he told Malaysiakini.

The Padang Rengas MP also advised Umno against poking its nose into Harapan's affairs, saying that the transition issue does not concern the party.

"That is their problem, not ours. Why have we become busybodies?" he told Malaysiakini.

Nazri was commenting on the meeting between Mahathir and opposition members on July 30 in Putrajaya, where the latter wanted him to continue as prime minister until the end of his term.

According to the Star, former Umno vice-president and Sembrong MP Hishammuddin Hussein was among those who attended.

Nazri said he had no knowledge of the meeting but pointed out that Hishammuddin is not authorised to represent Umno.

He said only the president, deputy president and vice-presidents can represent the party.

Asked whether he still supported Anwar to become prime minister, Nazri said this was on the basis of the Harapan agreement that the PKR president would succeed Mahathir.

Speculation has been rife that Mahathir prefers Azmin to succeed him despite an agreement prior to the election that the baton would be passed to Anwar.

At a press conference this morning, Mahathir said he would keep to his promise to step down before his term expires “unless they push me to the corner and put a gun on my head to continue until the term is finished.” - Mkini