DAP must review mistake of falling in love with Dr M, says Zaid

Support for DAP will not return unless its leaders recognise and acknowledge their past mistakes, according to Zaid Ibrahim.

In particular, the Kelantan DAP chief singled out the party's “love affair” with former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Pointed out that he had also campaigned for Mahathir prior to the last general election, Zaid argued that he did so to ensure there was sufficient firepower to fight then-premier Najib Abdul Razak.

“I thought my leaders would be savvy enough when in power,” he told Malaysiakini this afternoon.

Zaid said Pakatan Harapan could have done much more during its time in power and should reflect on this instead of heaping all the blame on the defectors for the collapse of the federal government.

He also accused the coalition of not pushing hard enough with regard to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim succeeding Mahathir as agreed prior to the election.

“Slow down on blaming the defectors for abandoning the mandate of the rakyat.

“What about what we could have done by pushing hard to defend Anwar' position or push for the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) and repeal the Sedition Act?

“Aren't these also the mandate of the people?” he asked.

“But our fascination with the strong man never ceased until the end. At what cost?” he added.

Mahathir has since blamed Harapan lawmakers for allowing Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin the space to form a new government with his Perikatan Nasional coalition during the week-long political turmoil in the nation.

The former premier said if Harapan MPs had backed him instead of Anwar as their prime minister candidate, he would have sufficient numbers to form the government.

Anwar has explained that since Mahathir refused to attend the Harapan meeting and his proposal to form a unity government went against the fundamentals of the coalitions, the MPs decided to name him as their candidate instead.

However, when Muhyiddin looked set to emerge victorious, Harapan again threw its support behind Mahathir but failed to stop the Bersatu president from being sworn in as the eighth prime minister on March 1.

Mahathir claimed to have the numbers as well but lamented that he was not able to present them to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Muhyiddin also postponed the Dewan Rakyat sitting, which was scheduled to commence yesterday, to May 18, which scuttled Harapan's plan to table a vote of no confidence against the premier. - Mkini