KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — It was not easy for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to leave Barisan Nasional and join the Opposition, and for the coalition to accept him, Liew Chin Tong said today.
The Kluang MP said Pakatan Harapan had to endure the “unimaginable” and the “unthinkable” to get to where it is at today and that it was also not easy for Dr Mahathir and jailed PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to set aside their differences.
Even party members, Liew noted, were not too happy to see DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang on the same stage as Dr Mahathir during the Citizen’s Declaration in 2016.
“Dr Mahathir puts it very well at the Pakatan convention on January 7, 2018 that it was very difficult for him to leave Umno which he joined in 1946 when it was formed and now struggle to defeat it at election.
“At the same time, the former premier (prime minister) reckoned it was even harder for Anwar and his family to accept him as a coalition partner as Anwar suffered prison during his rule. But we finally made it,” Liew said in a statement.
He said Malaysian politics have undergone dramatic changes in the past three years and that PH had gone through “hell and came back” during that period.
Liew said no one would have not expected to see Dr Mahathir as chairman of PH, and adding that most would have also not expected to see the reconciliation of Dr Mahathir, Anwar and Lim.
According to Liew, PH is now stronger than it was previously with the inclusion of new members from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), which Dr Mahathir heads.
He said if the Parliament was dissolved early last year, BN could have seen a greater win.
“(But) we are now ready to take Barisan Nasional in this ultimate election,” he said.
