ANGEL OR DEVIL? PAKATAN SPLIT ON MAHATHIR – CAN ANWAR CONVINCE 20 MORE MPs TO SUPPORT HIM WITHOUT MACHIAVELLI DR M’S ‘HELP’

PAKATAN Harapan is divided over working with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad again as the coalition struggles to chart the way forward after being ousted from power.

Dr Mahathir and his party, Bersatu, are no longer part of PH, but some in the pact believe that it needs to partner up with its ex-chairman once more if PH wants to defeat the new Perikatan Nasional government.

Amanah’s top leaders met Dr Mahathir on Tuesday on the possibility of him helping PH.

However, the nonagenarian’s remarks in his first interview after the collapse of the PH government have others believing that he and the coalition are no longer on the same page.

Sources in PH told The Malaysian Insight that those for and against working with Dr Mahathir are not demarcated along party lines, but exist within DAP, Amanah and PKR.

The different camps can be summarised as follows:

* Those for working with Dr Mahathir believe he is necessary to muster the 112 MPs needed to move a motion of no confidence against the PN government in May; and,

* Those against the idea feel that he is a drag on the coalition, and that it is time PKR president Anwar Ibrahim takes over the reins.

“The situation is roughly the same as before the 14th general election,” said one DAP lawmaker on condition of anonymity.

“The parties are just as equally split over whether to work with Dr Mahathir again, because we find ourselves in the same situation.”

Before GE14, PH faced a dilemma over whether to accept Dr Mahathir and Bersatu into its fold, as many in DAP, Amanah and PKR had suffered persecution by Dr Mahathir during his first stint as prime minister, when he headed the Barisan Nasional government.

Those for Dr Mahathir argue that he will bring in the critical Malay vote. Those against him fear he will betray them once he returns to power.

Now, the pro-Dr Mahathir camp is using a similar version of an old argument – that only he has the stature to get enough MPs to bring down PN.

“But is this argument really true? Anwar can also work to get the necessary MPs from Sabah and Sarawak,” said a PKR lawmaker who advocates choosing Anwar over Dr Mahathir.

“After all, with or without Dr Mahathir, the decision for Sabah and Sarawak MPs is whether to work with a PN or PH government.”

Moving on without Dr Mahathir

Those in the anti-Dr Mahathir camp point to his interview in Malay daily Sinar Harian as evidence that he wants to move on from PH.

“He says Anwar can’t get Malay support, but he praises Lim Guan Eng,” said an Amanah official.

Dr Mahathir had said Anwar could not get Malay support because he was a liberal, while dispelling the myth that former finance minister Lim was anti-Malay.

To succeed in a motion of no confidence, PKR president Anwar Ibrahim (seated, left) needs 112 MPs, but he only has a solid 92 behind him, all of whom are from Amanah, DAP and his party. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, March 14, 2020.

“It seems like he wants to pit PH parties against each other. That he is trying, once again, to divide and rule us,” said the Amanah official.

“I don’t buy the argument that he can bring in the support that he did in GE14, when Malays, Chinese and Indians turned out to vote for us (PH). His aura is gone.

“He will slow down our ability to rise again as a coalition.”

Another PKR official believes that those hankering for Dr Mahathir to return are people who held positions in the PH administration.

“There is a disconnect between those who held positions of power within all parties who are so adamant about getting back into power, and the rest of the grassroots.

“They are so desperate that they are willing to ignore how Dr Mahathir disparaged our manifesto, and how he could not commit to a transition plan with Anwar.”  

Now or GE15?

Another official said concern about Dr Mahathir’s role stems from how PH as a whole has not decided on its future – whether it wants to get back into the government quickly or bide its time and wait for the next elections.

“If you want to defeat PN by moving a motion of no confidence in the Dewan Rakyat, then you need 112 MPs. Simple as that.”

Anwar only has a solid 92 MPs behind him, all of whom are from Amanah, DAP and PKR.

“So, he needs at least another 20 from outside PH. Where are these people? They are from Parti Warisan Sabah and some in Bersatu who still support Dr Mahathir,” said the Amanah official.

“So, the question is, can Anwar get these 20 without Dr Mahathir?”

A DAP lawmaker said he understands the feelings of colleagues who feel betrayed by Bersatu and, to a certain extent, Dr Mahathir’s inability to prevent it.

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin took the party out of PH and triggered the pact’s collapse, but curiously, Dr Mahathir has insisted that the current prime minister is “not a traitor”.

“This is the same situation as before GE14. The kleptocrats are back in power,” said the DAP lawmaker, referring to Malay nationalist party Umno, whose leaders are facing a raft of corruption charges.

“We don’t need to trust each other, we don’t need to like each other,” he said, referring to Dr Mahathir and PH.

“We need to reach the same goal, which is to get rid of the kleptocrats.”

THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT