We could lose all because of power struggle, Mahathir tells PH

© Provided by FMT MEDIA SDN BHD Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening of the PKR retreat at Port Dickson tonight.

PORT DICKSON: The prime minister said the ruling coalition must not allow itself to be distracted by side issues which are of no value, in the wake of the spat between PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy Mohamad Azmin Ali.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad said time was running out for the Pakatan Harapan administration to deliver on its manifesto.

“We need to also ask ourselves if we will still get the mandate if we continue to fight among ourselves all for the sake of power without realising that we could lose because of this scramble for power,” he said at the PKR retreat here tonight.

The gathering comes on the back of the open feud between Anwar and Azmin, after Anwar’s statement that the economic affairs minister should quit his Cabinet post if it was proven that several gay sex videos implicating him were genuine.

© Provided by FMT MEDIA SDN BHDAzmin’s supporters have defended him, while Anwar’s camp today announced the formation of the council of state chiefs to back their president.

In his speech, Mahathir thanked PKR for extending him the invitation to speak at the retreat.

“It is an honour for a politician to be invited and to give a speech by another party. I appreciate it,” he said.

He reminded those present the PH government had taken over from a corrupt administration, which made their work difficult.

However, he said that in a year, the government had managed to get the country back on track even though “we need more time to repair the damage done by BN”.

He asked that if all the PH coalition parties could put their differences aside before the general election, “why not now?”

Mahathir said the parties had manage to keep any anger, revenge and hatred aside before the polls “because we realised that if we do not stop them (BN) from ruling, the future of the country and our families will be uncertain”.

“We had differences in opinion but we compromised. Even though we were not happy with several things, we moved forward,” he said.

© Provided by FMT MEDIA SDN BHDMahathir also told PKR that the PH coalition used its party symbol during the elections and it was not any other symbol.

He reminded them that success had many “fathers” but failure was an “orphan”, and added that PH did not have much time to fulfil its election manifesto.

Due to that, he said, the coalition could not afford to be distracted by matters that had no value to the country.

Mahathir also warned of opportunists within PH who had infiltrated the coalition. He said their objectives were clear.

“They want to enrich themselves and put us at odds if we stand in the way of their personal agenda,” he said.

The PH chairman said that till today, the coalition was dealing with the “enemy within” and cautioned that their actions could topple a government.