Who is Harapan Plus' PM? PKR leaves it to Anwar to negotiate

Amid talks of a counter-coup in motion and the uncertain relationship between PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and disputed Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad, there were expectations that the PKR leadership council meeting today will provide some clarity.

However, PKR in a statement after the meeting, merely made a one-line reference to Harapan and its allies purported plan to retake power – that PKR will support it.

The issue of whether PKR, which still has 39 MPs after defections, is willing to play ball if the new "Harapan Plus" coalition doesn't nominate him as prime minister, remains a question.

Several PKR leaders who attended the meeting today told Malaysiakini they have decided to allow Anwar to negotiate the terms with partners - both old and new - in the potential new coalition.

Malaysiakini reported that both Anwar and Mahathir are working on forming a majority for the opposition but who becomes prime minister remains a sticking point.

A PKR leader who spoke on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to reveal details of the meeting today, said he very much want Anwar as prime minister.

"It must be Anwar, it can't be anyone else," he said.

However, Anwar has been known to make concessions.

For example, Anwar had during the last Harapan presidential council meeting in late February, before the collapse of its government, agreed to let Mahathir set his own transition timeline. 

That concession did not last when Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin (above), against Mahathir's wishes, pulled the trigger on Harapan to form the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) government with the then opposition.

However, the source said that this time, PKR is firm that Anwar has to take the lead “in everything” and if it is possible Harapan can regain power, then Anwar will become the prime minister.

“When we look at the manifesto, it says Anwar will take the lead after he comes back as MP.

“We (PKR) 100 percent support him. The 39 of us (MPs) are genuine for the party.

“We are very firm, at this moment, it must be Anwar, there is no one else. Without objection, without argument, it must be Anwar,” he reiterated.

The source claimed that “nobody can deny” Anwar has the support, but the issue is translating that support “from paper into reality”.

“That is what is happening now. We hope it can be done,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bukit Lanjan assemblyperson Elizabeth Wong, who also attended the meeting, told Malaysiakini that they decided to give Anwar “all the necessary support” to continue discussing the power transition issue with their partners in Harapan.

“(It is) not just PKR but also all of the Harapan parties are discussing together (about the power transition) – what’s next, what are the next steps to regaining the mandate that was given to them by the people.

“The who, what, how and why, that’s all at the Harapan presidential council level,” she said.

However, when asked whether they discussed reclaiming power with Anwar at the helm, Wong (above) said nothing of the sort was discussed in the meeting.

“Nothing like that, it was in the context of Harapan. Nothing as firm as what you said,” she said.

The PKR leaders at the meeting today said they spent most of the time discussing measures to address Covid-19 as the rein are being left to Anwar for the counter-coup efforts.

The source said they had proposed a few Covid-19 policies to be discussed in the next Parliament sitting, expected to be in July – that is if Harapan does not regain power before then.

While speculation has been rife that “Harapan Plus” - consisting of Pakatan Harapan, Warisan and Mahathir’s Bersatu faction – has allegedly secured 129 MPs to reclaim Putrajaya, the source said he does not dare to confirm they truly have enough support to do so.

“Whether we have enough or not enough (support), I do not dare to say.

“To me, we’ve got 109 on the opposition side, that is also very strong. It is still strong,” he said. - Mkini