Dr M: Anwar's refusal to accept me hampers Harapan's bid to regain Putrajaya

 

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said PKR president Anwar Ibrahim's refusal to accept him hampers Pakatan Harapan's efforts to retake Putrajaya.

"Pakatan Harapan's efforts to take down the Perikatan Nasional government continues. My supporters and I agree to join this effort.

"But Anwar completely rejects my participation. If I am rejected, then my supporters won't join this effort.

"This makes it hard to get the three MPs to achieve the numbers," he said in a blog posting today.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin commands the support of 112 MPs in the 222-member Dewan Rakyat. However, there are two vacancies in the Dewan Rakyat following the death of a government and opposition MP respectively.

The defection of three MPs is enough to bring down his government.

Mahathir repeated the proposal for him to serve as the prime minister for six months if they can retake the government by joining forces, before handing over to Anwar.

"Amanah and a number of DAP members agree. Anwar rejects. Anwar does not want my involvement at all," he said.

'No place for me in Anwar's plan'

Mahathir, who leads the yet to be registered Parti Pejuang Tanah Air with four MPs, also noted that Anwar had excluded his group when announcing in September that he had secured a majority.

"But we all know that Anwar did not become prime minister. Anwar's statement that he had enough numbers was untrue.

"In Anwar's plan, there is no place for me, but it is clear that even after sidelining me, Anwar did not win," he said.

The Langkawi MP added that Anwar had made a similar claim in 2008, but it did not materialise.

"In 2008, Anwar also failed. Was it me who stopped him too?" he said.

The Port Dickson MP had said he was ditching Mahathir as he could not accept repeated "conspiracies and betrayals".

Anwar served as deputy prime minister from 1993 to 1998 with Mahathir as his boss.

However, they had a falling out, and Mahathir later sacked him as deputy prime minister and had him jailed.

Short-lived reconciliation

They reconciled in 2016 to face a common enemy - then prime minister and Umno president Najib Abdul Razak, who brought about the 1MDB scandal.

Their reconciliation contributed to Harapan's victory in the 2018 general election.

An arrangement was made for Mahathir to be sworn in as an interim prime minister while Anwar was to succeed him.

Mahathir had publicly said he would hand over power to Anwar, but it was later revealed that Mahathir intended to eventually resign but did not plan to muster the necessary support for Anwar from his party Bersatu.

Bersatu, under its president Muhyiddin, later pulled the trigger on his own, pulling out from Harapan and taking several defectors with them. This led to the collapse of the Harapan government.

Mahathir opposed Muhyiddin's move for a new coalition government as it would entail cooperation with Umno and he was eventually ousted from Bersatu himself, leading him to form Pejuang.

Muhyiddin later took over as prime minister, with a new Perikatan Nasional government.

The opposition, spearheaded by Harapan, has been attempting to regain power but the icy relations between Anwar and Mahathir have been a stumbling block.

Anwar has maintained that his announcement of a majority in September still stands but some time is needed to iron out the process.

"The process is still ongoing. It would not make sense for me to seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong if I was not confident with my numbers," he had said. - Mkini