Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad should do the right thing and keep his initial promise to support PKR president Anwar Ibrahim in his efforts to take over the post of the prime minister, said PKR Youth vice-chief Syed Badli Shah Syed Osman.
In fact, the choice is up to him whether to salvage his reputation as a man of his word and retire a legend or go down in history with a tarnished name as an untrustworthy individual, said Syed Badli in a statement today.
"It is common knowledge that Mahathir promised to hand over the post of the prime minister to Anwar Ibrahim while Pakatan Harapan was still holding power, but the promise failed to be fulfilled.
"Although Harapan is no longer in power, the earlier promise can still be fulfilled if Mahathir expresses support for Anwar."
Syed Badli said such support would show that Mahathir is a person who keeps his promises.
"However, if Mahathir behaves contrary to his promise, the people will judge him as a person who breaks promises, is a hypocrite and cannot be trusted.
"He may be a political legend of the country, but his name will be tarnished," he added.
Yesterday, Mahathir's Bersatu-splinter party Pejuang nominated him for a third stint as prime minister, saying it was a move to save the country pending the next elections.
The move comes amid political uncertainty, with Anwar claiming to have support to form a government, and Umno holding Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin hostage with yet to be revealed demands.
Pejuang's five MPs - including Mahathir - have also filed fresh no-confidence motions against Muhyiddin.
Pejuang is currently independent - but there has been unverified speculation that Mahathir may be teaming up with a former rival, Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah.
Mahathir, who returned to a second stint as head of government in 2018, resigned in February after Muhyiddin took Bersatu out of Harapan.
His bid to be sworn-in again as the head of a unity government failed, as did attempts to persuade PKR and Anwar to back him for a temporary term as prime minister until November.
Harapan won GE14 on the back of a promise that Mahathir would hand over power to Anwar, his former deputy prime minister from 1993 to 1998.
However, while PKR MPs supported Mahathir's government, the latter encouraged defectors to swell his party ranks and steadfastly refused to commit to the handover date.
Even following the collapse of the Harapan government, Mahathir then shifted his support to backing Warisan president Shafie Apdal as prime minister, but this too appears to have lost steam. - Mkini
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