Dr Mahathir no longer a PH member, says Anwar
PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) now comprises PKR, DAP and Parti Amanah Negara, following the exit of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) from the pact, said PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The pact was reduced to three parties after Bersatu quit the pact leading to the collapse of the PH federal government on Feb 24.
Political realignment in the subsequent weeks saw the PH state governments in Johor, Melaka and Perak morph into the Perikatan Nasional-led government.
“As far as I am concerned, PH as it stands now, as we discussed this (yesterday) morning, consists of Keadilan (PKR), DAP and Amanah (Parti Amanah Negara),” Anwar said at a press conference at the PKR headquarters yesterday. “Bersatu had decided some weeks back to leave.”
He added that the pact’s chairman, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was no longer a PH member.
“As per today’s (yesterday’s) stance, he (Dr Mahathir) is not a member of PH.”
Anwar said this, however, did not discount the possibility that the former prime minister could change his stance.
“We do not discount any sort of relationship or contact with anyone, including Dr Mahathir.”
On Dr Mahathir’s statement that Malays were not able to accept him (Anwar) as the next prime minister, Anwar said it was the Langkawi member of parliament who rejected him.
“Dr Mahathir rejected me, but I am not sure about the Malays.”
Anwar said more than 60 percent of Malays supported him during the Port Dickson by-election and that the majority of them supported him when he contested in Permatang Pauh, which is a Malay base.
“My patience is legendary. So I don’t think I can be easily provoked. Dr Mahathir has been saying nasty things for many decades, and I don’t think that has affected the party’s position in setting our priorities.”
On whether Dr Mahathir was still committed to PH, Anwar said: “That you would have to ask him because he may change his mind tomorrow and hopefully he remains consistent in his views.”
On whether PH would continue to table a motion of no confidence against the current government, the Port Dickson member of parliament said the decision would be made in the coming weeks based on national and political developments.
“The focus is on strengthening PH and (looking into) national issues, including the economy, unemployment, the Covid-19 outbreak and the hardship of the people.
“We will see (in) the next few weeks what should be done depending on the extent of support that we have.
“That’s our position this (yesterday) morning. We are not discounting any possibility, but the focus must be on the rakyat, economy and Covid-19.”
Anwar urged the government to focus on containing Covid-19 instead of playing politics and getting members of parliament to join Perikatan Nasional.
He said the government did not have a clear direction and lacked leadership in tackling the Covid19 outbreak and other important issues affecting the country.
“Look at the economic problems now. It (nation) is like going into a recession. Look at the stock market today, it has dropped to a level that is disconcerting and worrying.”
At 12.30pm yesterday, Bursa Malaysia lost 89.11 points or dipped 6.27 per cent to 1,330.32 yesterday from Thursday’s close of 1,419.43 on mounting fears and uncertainties caused by Covid-19, which has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation.
“It (Covid-19) has been declared a pandemic. I think this is (the area) where the government must take responsibility, not focus on getting MPs, threatening them or enticing them.
“Do a responsible job. You have done a dirty gimmick of taking over the (previous) government through essentially unethical moral means.
“Now you are in a position to govern, do it properly by undertaking this task of economic management.”
The Health Ministry’s statistics showed that 128,352 Covid-19 cases had been recorded in 114 countries with 4,953 deaths. In Malaysia, the number of cases stood at 158 with 32 recovered patients.
Since the participants of ijtimak tabligh at Seri Petaling Mosque tested positive for Covid19, the ministry has been calling on other attendees to come forward and get themselves tested apart from advising the people to postpone mass gatherings.
In heeding the ministry’s call, Anwar said PKR had postponed gatherings involving huge crowds, including solat hajat and Quran recital session that was held at his house every Sunday night.
“People can perform prayers such as solat hajat in their homes. I will make an announcement on this in social media.”