Questions over ‘crowd-puller’ Mahathir’s no-show as PH begins roadshows

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim speaks at an event at the Sime Darby Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur last night.

PETALING JAYA: Questions have been raised over whether the glue which held Pakatan Harapan (PH) together over the last three years has begun to wear off, following the no-show of its chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad at an event last night, seen as the start of a series of roadshows to mobilise public support.

Mahathir, who was named as the main speaker for the “Pertahan Mandat Rakyat” (Defend the People’s Mandate) gathering in Kuala Lumpur, did not turn up.

One of his aides told FMT that the event was not in the former prime minister’s schedule.

“It was not in his programme. I think the organisers just put his name there to pull in the crowds,” he said on condition of anonymity.

“Not that he didn’t attend, it was not in his schedule,” he added.

When contacted, another aide confirmed that the event was not on Mahathir’s “list of speaking programmes”.

“The list of talks involving Dr Mahathir will be announced later,” he told FMT.

FMT has been made to understand that the event, held at the Sime Darby Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur, was initially supposed to be open to media coverage, but was later held as a closed-door session.

PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution reportedly said Mahathir was unable to attend the gathering as he had just returned from his parliamentary constituency of Langkawi.

But a source close to the veteran leader told FMT that Mahathir might have been named by organisers as he was still a crowd-puller despite resigning as prime minister, leading to the collapse of the 22-month-old government.

FMT has also learnt that Mahathir declined to comment after watching the live telecast of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s announcement of his Cabinet line-up yesterday.

“He watched, and he left,” the source said.

Mahathir previously said he would wait to see Muhyiddin’s Cabinet members before agreeing to meet him.

Muhyiddin had reportedly reached out to Mahathir, with whom he had fallen out after breaking ranks and obtaining the support of a majority of PPBM MPs as well as Barisan Nasional, PAS and GPS to form the next government.

Mahathir, who described Muhyiddin’s action as “backstabbing”, had also criticised Anwar Ibrahim, and questioned whether the PKR leader had the support to replace him as prime minister.

“Anwar is always crazy for the PM’s post. He cannot be the prime minister… In the past, he had so much support. But now, people support me,” Mahathir said in a closed-door session with his supporters just hours after Muhyiddin was sworn in on March 1.

In his response, Anwar said he had been patient despite attempts to keep him out of the government, including one where Mahathir refused to appoint him as the deputy prime minister.

“(Mahathir replied) ‘cannot’. Never mind, we continued. So why keep criticising me?” he asked.

Several PH leaders also criticised Mahathir, blaming him for causing the coalition to break up last month.

They include former PKR leader Syed Husin Ali and Anwar’s former aide Ezam Nor, both of whom have openly called for Mahathir to step down to make way for Anwar.

“This criticism has only created a deeper mistrust from Mahathir, especially since Muhyiddin’s side, the man he labelled as Brutus, has been careful not to criticise the old man,” said one source.

Mahathir had said that his main grouse with Muhyiddin was that he was working with former Umno leaders facing corruption charges.

A source said yesterday’s Cabinet announcement could be Muhyiddin’s indication to Mahathir that his “views were taken into account”.

“Now that Muhyiddin has not included anyone who has been formally charged in his Cabinet, there is a chance that Mahathir could be persuaded to make peace with his party comrades,” said the source. - FMT