He is back: Mahathir returns as Pakatan Harapan's Prime Minister candidate
The Pakatan Harapan has confirmed that Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be its Prime Minister candidate. A consensus was reached on Saturday night in a meeting to finalise seat allocations for the PH component parties in Peninsular Malaysia.
The opposition pact delayed the announcement of its PM and DPM candidates after PKR said it needed more time to decide on the matter internally.
Anwar Ibrahim had said that more feedback was also needed from civil society groups and activists who could oppose the nomination of Dr M as Pakatan’s PM candidate.
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What Rafizi is saying about the chances of Pakatan Harapan in the Next GE: “If Pakatan Harapan cannot move beyond the usual rhetoric and neglects this last line of defence, Pakatan Harapan will lose GE14,” – Rafizi Ramli. |
The Malaysian Insight said that PKR had set three conditions for Dr Mahathir to be named the PM candidate. The party wanted Anwar to be made prime minister within a year of the coalition winning the election; it wanted the highest number of seats; and it wanted Dr Mahathir to agree to institutional reforms.
Mahathir has apparently agreed on all three conditions.
Dr Mahathir’s nomination is a first in Malaysia’s history. It is the first time that a former PM is an opposition candidate and is leading an opposition coalition in Malaysia.
Mahathir became the obvious candidate for the post with Anwar Ibrahim, who was sacked from government in 1998 by Mahathir himself, turning his former protege into an opposition icon in the process, still in jail.
It is now clear that PM Najib Razak will have a tough battle on his hands in the upcoming general elections facing Mahathir, the man who basically gave him the post of PM.
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More than RM2.5 billion has been ‘returned’ to the people in many initiatives and programmes. The budget for the state of Selangor which is RM3 billion – compared to the Putrajaya budget that is over RM280 billion, has been more effective, he hinted. |
In the 2013 elections, Najib delivered the worst results for the Barisan Nasional, winning less seats (the worst in the ruling coalitions history) but with the Umno maintaining its power as the biggest political formation in the country it saved Najib his PM’s post.
The former prime minister, now the Bersatu chairman, has one main mission: remove Najib as PM. Expect a royal battle this GE.
While the PKR needed time to decide on who will be PM, other parties in the PH coalition had agreed to the proposal at a PH retreat in early December.