PH sticking to MoU to buy time, say analysts

 

An analyst says any decision by PH to abandon its support for the MoU will only benefit BN.

PETALING JAYA: Two analysts have alleged that Pakatan Harapan is trying to buy time with its continued backing for the memorandum of understanding (MoU) it signed with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid of Universiti Sains Malaysia and Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said they believed PH needed the time to get itself ready for the next general election.

Fauzi said the coalition had internal issues to resolve and that these included enmity between camps in PKR led by Rafizi Ramli and Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who are facing each other in the contest for the party’s deputy presidency.

Ahmad Fauzi Abdul Hamid.

“PH is also far from capturing the Malay votes, at least as much as it did in 2018, to enable victory in GE15,” he told FMT. “Neither has it resolved the thorny issue of DAP’s image among the Malay masses.”

But Fauzi also said he believed the main reason PH was adamant about keeping the MoU alive was its fear of being remembered as “untrustworthy and liable to perfidy” if it did not do so.

Amanah president Mohamad Sabu recently said PH remained committed to the MoU, adding that it could withdraw its support of Ismail Sabri and unseat him if it wished to,

Azmi Hassan.

But Azmi said Ismail still had enough support from those aligned with his government.

He said any decision by PH to withdraw its support would only benefit Barisan Nasional, especially Umno, which has been clamouring for an early general election.

PH was simply not ready for GE15, he said.

He also said the opposition parties were split because they could not agree on a candidate for prime minister. - FMT