‘Anwar more experienced and Warisan only has nine MPs’
Published on: Wednesday, July 01, 2020
By: NST
Anwar
Kuala Lumpur: Pakatan Harapan (PH) Plus’ push to question the legitimacy of the Perikatan Nasional government appears to have taken a hit with the conflict over its choice of prime ministerial candidate.Analysts believe that the inclusion of Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal as yet another candidate, following a dispute over the candidacies of PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, would cause discord in the pact.
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Universiti Utara Malaysia lecturer Professor Dr Azizuddin Sani said PH, which lost its hold on the federal government in February, was entering dangerous waters given the uncertainty over its prime ministerial candidate.
He said Dr Mahathir’s backing of Shafie as the candidate had raised questions.
He said for one, Shafie, who is Sabah chief minister, had never held a senior position before, not on the scale of Anwar.
“Anwar and Muhyiddin (Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin) have, which was why nobody questioned Muhyiddin when he was made the prime minister, or when Anwar was nominated as the candidate in 2018 because they had served as deputy prime minister.
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“Secondly, Warisan has only nine members of parliament whereas even Parti Amanah Negara has 11. If that’s the case, (Amanah president) Mohamad Sabu can be prime minister candidate too.
Shafie
“Naming Shafie as PH Plus’ prime ministerial candidate is creating more speculation and problems than what the pact can handle at the moment,” he said.
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On Saturday, Dr Mahathir, who claims he is still Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman, had announced that Warisan, Amanah and DAP had unanimously accepted Shafie’s nomination as its prime ministerial candidate in an informal meeting on June 25.
However, following the announcement, DAP and Amanah remained non-committal to the proposal, saying only that they would have to hold internal discussions first before Shafie’s nomination could be taken to the PH Plus presidential council.
PKR, in a statement last night, stated that any decision had to be taken by the PH presidential council, and noted that any “new suggestions should not become the personal political plaything of any leader”.
PKR parliamentary whip chief Datuk Johari Abdul had, in a Facebook Live session on Saturday night, hinted that the party was unlikely to accept any other candidate but Anwar as its prime minister.
Azizuddin said Dr Mahathir should not have “hijacked” PH Plus’ negotiations by announcing an unconfirmed decision on behalf of the leaders as he was not an official member of the opposition coalition.
“If PKR rejects this proposal in the PH presidential council, it will spell an end to Shafie’s nomination. I don’t know if this means the beginning of the end for PH Plus, but if there are snap polls soon, the pact will not survive because this whole episode has affected the people’s mood towards the pact,” he said.
Universiti Sains Malaysia lecturer Professor Dr Sivamurugan Pandian, on the other hand, had a different opinion on why Dr Mahathir endorsed Shafie as the prime ministerial candidate.
He believed it was a form of psychological warfare employed by Dr Mahathir to keep Warisan MPs from leaving the party, with talk rife that the Sabah government could fall soon due to possible defections.
“If Warisan MPs leave the party, Dr Mahathir will have less support in Dewan Rakyat, which also means he will have even less support for his motion of no-confidence against Muhyiddin.
“For me, the biggest puzzle here is why would Amanah and DAP not endorse Anwar, and go for Shafie instead?
“It seems that anyone can be No. 1, but Anwar will always be the second. This should be clear to Anwar if he is still thinking about working with Bersatu.”
Sivamurugan said the friction and indecision in Pakatan could end up with Muhyiddin enjoying a bigger majority in Parliament.
The uncertainty within PH Plus, he said, could rattle the latter’s MPs into seeking a more stable environment.
The Perikatan Nasional government has a razor-thin majority of three MPs.
Sivamurugan said the tussle might just be what Muhyiddin needed to give him the numerical advantage and silence his critics once and for all.
He said Muhyiddin would do well to maintain his course, which was to steer clear of politics and focus on governing, for which PN had earned plaudits.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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