‘DAP will call the shots on next PM if opposition wins’
KUALA LUMPUR: DAP will be the one which decides who becomes the prime minister if Pakatan Harapan captures Putrajaya in the next general election.
Blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin said DAP would win the most number of seats in the next general election with PKR winning the second-most number of seats.
In his latest blog yesterday, he said Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) would “struggle” to win just five seats, “even with the help of votes from the Chinese community”.
“By convention, the party with the most number of seats in Parliament gets to decide who becomes the prime minister.”
He said in this case, this would be DAP, which had been forecast to win more than 40 parliamentary seats. This is as opposed to PKR’s less than 30 seats and less than 10 seats each for PPBM and PAN (Parti Amanah Negara).
DAP currently holds the most number of seats in Parliament. However, it is PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who is the opposition leader in Parliament.
Raja Petra said Dr Wan Azizah becoming the opposition leader was not by chance, but because DAP “wants or allows” her to be the opposition leader despite PKR having fewer seats than DAP.
He said by convention, the opposition leader in Parliament was the prime minister-in-waiting, even in the United Kingdom.
“The message here is simple. If Pakatan Harapan forms the next government, Dr Wan Azizah is going to become the prime minister.”
Raja Petra said, PPBM chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad “was acting as if he was the opposition leader”, who wanted to decide who was going to become the country’s next premier.
This was the reason behind Dr Mahathir’s announcement in the United Kingdom that PPBM president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was going to be the prime minister if Pakatan Harapan won the general election, and then making a U-turn after realising that “he had blundered”.
“He (Dr Mahathir) then said it was too early to decide because he knew whoever became the prime minister is not for him to decide but DAP.
“Politics is a game of numbers and DAP has the numbers. The prime minister is going to be whoever the party with the most number of seats says it is going to be.”
Raja Petra said at the moment, the person in Lim Kit Siang’s mind to become prime minister, if Pakatan Harapan won the next general election, was Dr Wan Azizah.
“And with only one seat, Dr Mahathir has no power to decide who is going to be the prime minister (unless PPBM can win more than 50 seats in the next general election and becomes the party with the most number of seats).”
Raja Petra said Permatang Pauh member of parliament Dr Wan Azizah was a “weak candidate”, adding that many had said she was not suitable as the prime minister.
“If the candidate is strong then DAP will not be able to control him or her. So, if DAP can win 40 to 45 seats or more, and PKR around 20 to 25 seats — against less than 10 seats each for PAN and PPBM — DAP will decide who becomes the prime minister.”
Raja Petra said Dr Mahathir, meanwhile, wanted Lim to back PPBM deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir as prime minister.
He said PPBM must first win the second-largest number of seats in Parliament and if PKR could win 25 to 30 seats, it would mean that PPBM had to aim for at least 30 to 35 seats.
“However, PPBM will be hardpressed to win even five seats in the coming general election. And the question would be can Mukhriz himself win a seat unless they move him to a safe seat where they can depend on DAP’s Chinese supporters for votes?
“If you compare Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali with Dr Wan Azizah, he is by far a stronger candidate. But then, if DAP backs Azmin for prime minister, this will make him even stronger and this will allow him to kill off Dr Wan Azizah.”
Raja Petra said DAP, however, did not trust Azmin as the Selangor menteri besar was still flirting with PAS and was Dr Mahathir’s proxy in PKR.
He said Azmin would sell DAP out if it suited his personal agenda to work with other parties, including Umno and Pas.
Raja Petra said until PPBM ended up winning 35 seats in the next general election, including one won by Mukhriz, Dr Mahathir had to act like a “follower and not the leader.”
With only one current seat, PPBM was in no position to make demands, he said, adding that the party’s 10,000 members was far short of Umno’s 3.5 million members, proving that Dr Mahathir and PPBM did not have support.
“To DAP, this issue is very simple. If DAP backs Dr Wan Azizah, Azmin is dead. If DAP backs Azmin, Dr Wan Azizah is dead.
“So, DAP also gets to decide PKR’s future as well. And DAP’s future lies in PKR’s future. So, for the sake of DAP’s survival, they have to determine who is in charge of PKR.
“With Dr Wan Azizah in charge, they get ( jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri) Anwar (Ibrahim) on their side.”
He said with Azmin in charge and Anwar being in jail posing no threat, it was Dr Mahathir who would call the shots.
“It does not take a genius to figure out that DAP is safer with Dr Wan Azizah than with Azmin.”