Mahathir absent from Pakatan Harapan event

(NST) – Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was absent from Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) “Pertahan Mandat Rakyat” gathering last night, despite having been slated to be the main speaker at the event.

However, PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail was quick to reassure reporters present, saying that Dr Mahathir was unable to attend the gathering at the Sime Darby Convention Centre here as he had just returned from his parliamentary constituency of Langkawi.

The unexpected twists and turns throughout the recent political crisis, which culminated in Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s unexpected appointment as the 8th Prime Minister, has triggered rumours that the relationship between Dr Mahathir and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has turned sour.

Despite this, Saifuddin maintained that the PH coalition is still intact.

“Things are as usual. In fact, even (on Tuesday) I will be seeing Dr Mahathir for a meeting.

“Some of the Bersatu members, especially the grassroots from Perlis and Sabah, are here with us tonight. We are still intact,” he said, downplaying talk of party rifts.

He noted that the gathering drew leaders of all coalition parties, including Anwar, Party Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mohamad Sabu, and DAP head Lim Kit Siang.

“Tonight, we spoke at length on a ‘jelajah’ (exploration) plan throughout Malaysia, which will be one of the platforms for us to explain what truly transpired that led to PH’s collapse. We will be going all out for this for the next two (months),” he said.

It has been reported that Dr Mahathir has blamed Anwar for his not being appointed the 8th Prime Minister.

Anwar, in response, has questioned why he is being blamed, after having waited patiently for Dr Maharhir to honour his promise in 2018 to make him the new Prime Minister.