KUCHING: After Friday night’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential council meeting failed to set a date for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to hand over the prime minister’s post to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, it is imperative that all components of the PH to unite and respect the decision.
“This is because there are parties within the coalition who do not want the transition of power to be done fast as they wanted new momentum to ensure PH can drive development more dynamically,” said political analyst at the Department of Sociology, University of Malaya, associate professor Dr Awang Azman Awang Pawi.
According to Awang Azman, if there are parties within PH who are still unhappy with the decision then the internal turmoil within the coalition will occur.
He said even Anwar himself seemed to be in agreement with the decision because he does not want conflict between him and Dr Mahathir which could further undermine Pakatan Harapan’s popularity.
“The PH government is still intact if everyone in PH is unanimous with the decision,” added Awang Azman.
Instead, he said the PH government would be in turmoil if Dr Mahathir entertained PH’s political enemies such as PAS, Umno, BN or some PKR leaders who wanted him to continue as prime minister for a full term.
He said the issue of power transition has highlighted the honesty of political leaders especially Dr Mahathir on whether he was honest in wanting to pass the baton to Anwar.
“People will see this as political honesty and promises whether or not it is fulfilled. If power transition is further delayed by PH’s key leaders, then what more to say fulfilling their election promises to the people,” Awang Azman pointed out.
He suggested that Dr Mahathir lead PH in the coming Sarawak election to prove his popularity among Sarawakians.
He said usually the deputy prime minister will play a role in Sarawak election but in this context, Dr Mahathir himself should lead the Sarawak PH to prove whether he was still popular in the eyes of the people of Sarawak.
“If he asks Anwar to lead then it shows he is not confident with his popularity in leading PH in the Sarawak election” added Awang Azman.
