KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) is just experiencing what PKR went through in its early days as the DAP and PAS had initially distrusted it too, PKR’s Chua Tian Chang said.

The party vice-president better known as Tian Chua added he was certain that some DAP members, besides certain PKR members, were also wary of the new party and of the party’s chairman, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“When PKR started, a lot of DAP also [didn’t] trust us, PAS also [didn’t] trust us,” Chua told Malay Mail Online.

“So we understand PPBM a lot better — we were there also, being questioned. When we first started, a lot of people asked, ‘Is Anwar going back to Umno?’.

“A lot of people [used to] think that PKR was full of people who were previously in Umno, [asking] ‘Are they genuine in their reforms? Can they really be trusted for multiracial politics?’,” he added.

Dr Mahathir — the country’s longest serving prime minister who had sacked his then-deputy Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 1998 — told Singaporean broadcaster Channel News Asia in an interview that PKR’s distrust towards him was hampering Pakatan Harapan’s registration as a formal coalition.

PKR was formed 18 years ago in 1999 after Anwar’s sacking that had triggered the Reformasi protest movement.

The pact comprising PKR, DAP, Parti Amanah Negara and PPBM has since been struggling to decide its formal leadership structure.

Chua stressed today that the majority of PKR’s leaders, however, were “very open towards trying to bury the hatchet” with their rival-turned-ally.

Pakatan Harapan chief secretary Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, a former Umno deputy minister who joined PKR, said mistrust among some members towards Dr Mahathir was only natural given their party’s history.

“But the fact that many in PKR who are being practical, and are willing to accept Tun M (both his Deklarasi Rakyat and PPBM) must also be appreciated,” Saifuddin told Malay Mail Online.

Dr Mahathir had also told Channel News Asia that he was willing to be interim prime minister if all Pakatan Harapan parties agreed and if there were no other candidates.

“On PM candidate, after Anwar’s announcement, I’m hearing more people saying that PH has to move on and name someone younger, perhaps in the early 50s, and preferably with some administration experience,” Saifuddin said in response.

Anwar said last weekend that he would not offer himself as Pakatan Harapan’s prime minister-designate amid protracted debates within the federal Opposition coalition over the post.