Lim Guan Eng: Dr Mahathir will not set up ‘backdoor government’
(Borneo Post) – Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is confident that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will not subscribe to the notion of setting up a ‘backdoor government’.
He said Dr Mahathir, who is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) national chairman, had rejected the proposal (of a ‘backdoor’ government) and this should mean that there is no feasibility of such an establishment.
It is understood that a ‘backdoor’ government is a government not directly chosen by the people, but instead the product of elite negotiations for power.
“To my analysis, the potential of a ‘backdoor’ government lies in Bersatu for its top leader is also the prime minister. Under the circumstances of DAP (Democratic Action Party) and Amanah (Parti Amanah Negar not pulling out of PH (Pakatan Harapan) and not all PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) will withdraw from PH, and with Bersatu’s rejection, a ‘backdoor’ government would not have the enough elected representatives,” he told an exclusive interview with The Borneo Post’s sister paper Oriental Daily in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
The DAP national secretary general dismissed talks that his party was engaging in coalition internal fights with Bersatu, asserting that it is usual for people to have different point of views under the rule of democracy.
Lim explained that DAP and Bersatu did not come from a similar background but they had come together for collaboration, and thus far, there had been no problem for the leadership of both parties to work closely with each other.
He also ruled out talks that DAP had been in ‘deep state’ because of the party’s support towards Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to take over as the next prime minister.
If DAP was picked on due to its support for Anwar to succeed Dr Mahathir, he said, all top leaders of PH ought to be given similar treatment.
“Is it wrong for us (DAP) to adhere to our (PH’s negotiations) election manifesto?” asked the Bagan MP.
He said DAP was merely adhering to PH’s negotiations in its support for Anwar to be the eighth prime minister of Malaysia, stressing that such decision was unanimously agreed upon all the PH component parties.
He added that PH would risk losing its credibility if they kept turning back on their decisions made.
According to him, there is no change of candidate to succeed Dr Mahathir.
Despite so, he declined to disclose when the change of office could be expected but said that the details of this matter ought to be left to the PH committee to deliberate.
“There is no issue anymore (as far as the premiership succession plan is concerned). Why do people keep on guessing? Why keep acting like a fortune-teller?”
On rumours that he would be sacked from the Cabinet, Lim said DAP had been under the attack of various lies and he admitted that he had even received calls from his father Kit Siang and Anwar about the matter.
He opined that the rumours circulated because the government still had not recovered a lot of money lost through the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), which led to the opposition creating fake news via social media.
He said some DAP members and supporters had been misled by those social media posts, as such, he urged DAP leaders to stay calm so that they could disseminate true information to the grassroots level.
On the Home Ministry having banned the Belt and Road Initiative for Win-Winism comic book written by former DAP member Hew Kuan Yau, the DAP minister said he was overseas when such issue came to light.
Lim said he remained silent did not mean that he did not have a stand, adding that he would express his view only after Hew had exhausted all his legal means.
