KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) is prepared to face the 15th general election (GE15) without Pejuang and its chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the coalition’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, Malaysiakini reported today.
Despite PH chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s willingness to meet Dr Mahathir again, Saifuddin Nasution indicated that future collaborations with the former two-time prime minister to face off against Barisan Nasional (BN) is very unlikely.
“We respect him as a partner whom we have experience fighting alongside. We understand the times when one is desperate to seek allies, and when it is easy to break promises.
“Yes, we share the same goal of defeating BN and Perikatan Nasional. However, Harapan will face GE15 as a Mahathir-free coalition.
“We pray for Mahathir’s good health, and if he chooses to contest, we wish him all the best,” Saifuddin Nasution who is also from PKR told the news portal.
Dr Mahathir is now leading an eclectic alternative Opposition coalition called Gerakan Tanah Air and has confirmed he will defend his Langkawi parliamentary seat in the November 19 national polls.
Yesterday, he invited Anwar for a possible electoral collaboration. The PKR president said he was open to meet but was non-committal on teaming up again in GE15.
But Saifuddin Nasution said that PH’s priority is to rally its component parties and further the electoral pacts with parties it has agreed to work with.
“We had a relationship with Mahathir during the 2018 general election with good intentions and goals, which is to topple a kleptocratic government.
“As a result, Mahathir became the prime minister with support from PKR, DAP, and Amanah. At the time, all decisions were discussed collectively, but Mahathir resigned without any discussion.
“Mahathir’s stance is very clear — that he never attempted to abide by what had been agreed. He knew about the conspiracy of betrayal from within, and he chose to violate the alliance,” Saifuddin Nasution was quoted as saying.
Dr Mahathir was prime minister following the 2018 general election that catapulted PH to Putrajaya.
His administration collapsed in February 2020 after a number of MPs from his then-party Bersatu and PKR struck a deal with their Umno and PAS rivals.
