'Mahathir effect' causing cracks in Amanah

 

A tussle between two schools of thought on how to approach former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is causing cracks in Amanah.

Those upset with the top Amanah leadership's cosy relationship with the Langkawi MP have shown their displeasure by taking a back seat from federal leadership roles or even flirting with PKR.

Meru assemblyperson Mohd Fakhrulrazi Mohd Mokhtar went as far as to switch from Amanah to PKR and Hulu Kelang assemblyperson Saari Sungib admitted to nudging him to make the leap.

Now, a group of Amanah grassroots leaders are demanding action against the rebels and insist that the party should not make an enemy out of Mahathir.

"We, the Amanah grassroots leaders at the division, state and national levels, urge the Amanah leadership to take a firm position against individuals (party members) who have joined other parties. Their actions are causing restlessness in the party.

"We also support the Amanah leadership's position to support Pakatan Harapan chairperson Anwar Ibrahim as the prime ministerial candidate. At the same time, we support Amanah's position not to make a political enemy out of Mahathir," they said in a joint statement.

The statement was signed by 34 Amanah leaders, most of them from the divisional and state levels.

For the record, the Amanah leadership has always been supportive of Anwar as the prime ministerial candidate. However, critics believe the cordial relationship with Mahathir is holding back the party.

In September, Husam Musa resigned as the Amanah vice-president but remained as the Kota Bharu Amanah chief.

Meanwhile, Fakhrulrazi (above) defected from Amanah to PKR in the same month, but it only became public knowledge this month.

Amanah vice-president Mujahid Yusof Rawa has sought to calm the internal rumbling, stressing that the party has not strayed from Harapan's consensus to see Anwar, who is also the PKR president, as the prime ministerial candidate.

"The rumour is (that the) Amanah (leadership) had chosen a different path and supported Mahathir (as prime minister).

"(These rumours) were started in bad faith to taint Amanah's image, more so as attempts to 'attack' the party president as the cause of the split in Amanah.

"Those responsible for this narrative should apologise over (their) efforts to ruin Amanah, whether they did so intentionally or not, and hence affecting unity within Harapan," Mujahid said.

Anwar and Mahathir had another falling out after the collapse of the Harapan government in late February.

Their icy relationship has been a stumbling block to a united opposition. - Mkini