Cracks return to PH as PKR founder attacks Dr M, Maszlee aide blames DAP

Syed Husin Ali says Dr Mahathir Mohamad is to blame for Pakatan Harapan’s collapse.

PETALING JAYA: Cracks have returned to the Pakatan Harapan coalition even as it prepares for a possible parliamentary showdown next week to topple Muhyiddin Yassin, who came to power after the political crisis last week.

This comes as PKR and DAP, now the lynchpins of PH after the bulk of PPBM members broke ranks to join the Perikatan Nasional coalition led by Muhyiddin, planned roadshows nationwide to galvanise public support.

But despite attempts to show unity in the fractured coalition, PH leaders are already engaged in a blame game over the cause of the 21-month-old government’s collapse.

Earlier today, Syed Husin Ali, one of PKR’s founders, put the blame on Mahathir despite the former prime minister agreeing to return to the PKR-DAP bloc to revive PH.

“Thank you, Tun Mahathir. By resigning, you have succeeded in:

• Toppling the government you lead;
• Surrendered the federal and several state governments to the enemy;
• Stopped the feared rise of Anwar.

“No need to apologise,” the former PKR deputy president said on Twitter.

Syed Husin’s post on Twitter

Mahathir’s resignation as prime minister and the exit of PPBM from PH caused the downfall of the coalition government last week.

Mahathir has since said he had resigned to allow MPs to choose the next prime minister, amid pressure from the pro-Anwar faction to speed up a plan to appoint the PKR leader to the top post.

“As a normal human being, I also make mistakes. I apologise if my resignation was a mistake,” Mahathir had said in a televised speech on Feb 26.

Former education minister Maszlee Malik.

Meanwhile, an aide to Maszlee Malik, who decided to remain in PH, revealed how DAP leaders had undermined the former education minister by cutting down on the budget for his ministry.

Zulfikri Zamir said this includes a cut of nearly half-a-billion ringgit in the budget for security and cleaning services in schools nationwide, causing more than 10,000 to lose jobs.

Zulfikri, who was Maszlee’s press secretary, recalled a meeting between Maszlee and former finance minister Lim Guan Eng, where a senior officer had remarked:

“School security doesn’t need so many workers. The rural schools, just get the volunteers. Those jobless parents could volunteer,” Zulfikri, writing on The Malaysian Insight news portal, quoted an officer as saying.

Zulfikri also claimed that the budget cuts affected co-curricular and uniformed activities as well as Islamic programmes for students.

He further accused Maszlee’s former deputy, Teo Nie Ching of DAP, of bypassing her boss in her communication with Lim’s ministry.

Zulfikri said that in contrast, the finance ministry announced millions of ringgit to boost DAP leaders’ friends who own e-wallet companies, in reference to the budget’s allocation of RM450 million to encourage e-wallet transactions.

“DAP, you are not only responsible for PH’s downfall, but also the return of the corrupt today,” wrote Zulfikri. - FMT