Dr M confirms he will sit on opposition bench

History will be made on May 18 when Dr Mahathir Mohamad sits on the opposition bench when the Dewan Rakyat sitting resumes.

He confirmed this in a statement to The Star. 

Mahathir will be the second former prime minister to sit on the opposition bench with the first being Najib Abdul Razak.

This is also likely to be the first time that members from the same party sitting on both sides of the House.

Mahathir explained that Bersatu - the party which he serves as chairperson - was split in two.

"So, the faction against the government cannot sit together with the faction with the government.

"So, it should be among the opposition together with Pakatan Harapan but not as a member of Harapan," he said.

On Feb 24, Bersatu pulled out of Harapan while Mahathir stepped down as prime minister.

This led to the collapse of the Harapan federal government and the appointment of Muhyiddin Yassin (photo) as the new prime minister, supported by the bulk of Bersatu MPs and all the MPs from Umno, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak.

A small group is believed to be still loyal to Mahathir and will join him on the opposition bench.

On the subject of electing an opposition leader, Mahathir hinted that he is not vying for the position.

He said it would be decided by the opposition MPs and the Bersatu MPs who are on the opposition bench will have to accept the new leader.

"When you have more than two parties, for example, the opposition will be made up of many different parties, it is up to them who will lead them as opposition (leader).

"So, this faction of Bersatu will have to accept the leader chosen by the opposition (MPs)," he said.

Meanwhile, Mahathir said the scheduled one-day sitting was a good decision health-wise but not politically.

"It is good only because it will reduce the risk of being infected by the coronavirus. But in terms of the political situation in the country, it is not good. Because if only one day is devoted only to discussing the epidemic, then the achievement will be very minimum.

"At this moment, there are things being done by the government which are not very well received by the people. And if the government continues to do things without exposing itself to debate in Parliament, it will do a lot of things which will damage the country.

"One-day meeting confined only to the epidemic is only good because of health considerations. Political reason, it is not good," he said.

Mahathir said although Muhyiddin has been sworn-in as prime minister, his legitimacy will continue to be in doubt until his support is tested in Parliament.

"Actually, at this time, the major decisions should not be made by the government, as it is not yet fully legalised, in the sense it has yet to be certified by the Parliament. We should do the usual routine work.

"For example, the money that was collected by the US Department of Justice had been returned to this government," he said. - Mkini