PETALING JAYA: An academic has urged DAP and Amanah to stop promoting Dr Mahathir Mohamad as Pakatan Harapan鈥檚 (PH) prime minister candidate following his rejection of further cooperation with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.
鈥淚t is better for PH to side with Anwar and move on,鈥 said Azmi Hassan of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
鈥淧KR can provide a larger number of MPs than Mahathir, who only has the backing of four former PPBM MPs and Warisan MPs.鈥
Yesterday, in an interview with Sin Chew Daily, Mahathir rejected a suggestion by Anwar that he take up a senior minister鈥檚 or minister mentor鈥檚 post if PH regains the federal government.
He also said he would no longer work with Anwar since the Port Dickson MP did not want to work with him. He would find other ways to become prime minister, he added.
Previously, DAP and Amanah had told PKR to return to PH鈥檚 consensus to back Mahathir as prime minister, saying Anwar was not expected to achieve majority support in Parliament.
Their statement did not sit well with some quarters in PKR, with one leader from Selangor urging the party to ditch DAP and Amanah.
Azmi said the reality was that Mahathir needed Anwar as he had the support of more than 30 PKR MPs.
鈥淲ithout Anwar in PH, it鈥檚 just impossible to have the numbers to oust the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government,鈥 he added.
He said PH would not be a strong opposition without PKR and continued bickering in the coalition might provide Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin with the opportunity to consolidate his power base.
James Chin of University of Tasmania鈥檚 Asia Institute said the decision of whether to ditch or continue to back Mahathir was a tricky matter for DAP and Amanah.
鈥淚f they abandon Mahathir and just focus on the 15th general election with PKR, it will give time for Muhyiddin to consolidate his government and build his coalition鈥檚 strength for the election.鈥
He warned that PN might try to woo Mahathir to its side if he was not PH鈥檚 candidate for prime minister.
鈥淭here is a possibility that Mahathir will move over to PN,鈥 he said. 鈥淚f that happens, it will be a big disaster for PH.鈥
But Chin said he believed PH would find a solution to its crisis because it knew that remaining divided would take away any chance of forming the government again or winning GE15.
Mohd Izani Mohd Zain of Universiti Putra Malaysia said it would be impossible for Mahathir to become prime minister again without Anwar鈥檚 support because of the number of seats PKR holds.
鈥淢ahathir and Anwar need each other鈥檚 support,鈥 he said, adding that PH should be preparing for GE15 instead of being mired in the power struggle between the two.
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