SERDANG, July 20 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today dismissed warnings from Umno veteran Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who remarked that Pakatan Harapan could self-implode in light of the tense relations between PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his number two Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.
He said Razaleigh, fondly known as Ku Li, would know all about imploding political parties.
“He has a lot of experience in that, such as Parti Melayu Semangat 46,” Dr Mahathir said during the press conference following Parti Pribumi Bersatu’s extraordinary general meeting at the Malaysian Agro Exposition Park Serdang.
“So he knows all about it. His already imploded,” the prime minister said sarcastically.
On Thursday, the Gua Musang MP said the conflict between Anwar and Azmin Ali will implode, depending of the number of supporters both have should they choose to go head to head.
However he said scuffles between both camps on social media, although possibly leading to a party split, is unreliable and added he hoped PKR would remain stable.
Parti Melayu Semangat 46 was formed in 1988 as a splinter from Umno, after Ku Li’s faction failed to wrest control of the party from Dr Mahathir’s camp.
Originally meant to challenge Dr Mahathir, Ku Li was supported by former prime ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn, who were themselves at loggerheads with the premier.
However, by 1996, the party had lost its numbers and political influence, and by October that year Ku Li announced the dissolution of Melayu Semangat 46.
