Dr M must go by May or we’ll unleash Plan B, pro-Anwar group warns

Otai Reformis says Dr Mahathir Mohamad must step down for Anwar Ibrahim to take over as prime minister by May.

PETALING JAYA: A pro-Anwar Ibrahim group has vowed to take to the streets to demand that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad hand over power to the PKR president.

Otai Reformis secretary Abdul Razak Ismail said the group had anticipated that the Pakatan Harapan presidential council would not set a date for the handover of power.

Last night, the ruling coalition’s top leaders agreed not to fix a specific date for Mahathir to hand over power to Anwar.

“The agreement is that it is up to me when to resign,” said Mahathir, with Anwar saying he agreed with the decision.

Despite the top leadership’s decision, Razak said his group would still demand that Mahathir resign and hand over power to Anwar in May and not after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in November.

He said the group would roll out “Plan B” and take to the streets like they did in 1998 when Anwar, then deputy prime minister, was jailed, to demand a transfer of power in May.

Otai Reformis secretary Abdul Razak Ismail.

“Otai Reformis and other NGOs are consistent that May 2020 is the final date for Dr Mahathir to resign, so we will go ahead with our Plan B,” he told FMT.

Razak listed several reasons why Mahathir needed to resign immediately, including the loss of confidence in PH under the PPBM chairman’s leadership as evidenced by the coalition’s losses in the Tanjung Piai and Semenyih by-elections contested by PPBM candidates.

“The National Automotive Plan 2020 to develop the third national car is an example of a waste of public funds.

“Not just that, there is the issue of the sale of three Petronas subsidiaries’ shares to unknown companies, which we find suspicious. These are among the reasons we feel Mahathir has to go in May 2020.”

Razak claimed that Mahathir would waste more public funds in the nine months until November.

Meanwhile, Shahbudin Husin, the author of a pro-Anwar book, described the PH presidential council’s decision as disappointing.

He said it indicated that Malaysia’s “dark era” would continue.

“As he approaches 95 years, Tun Mahathir is showing his recklessness and greed for power. Tun Mahathir is clearly reneging on his promise that he won’t be prime minister for more than two years,” Shahbudin said.

He said he would not rule out Mahathir giving some excuse to not hand over power to Anwar after Apec. - FMT