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KUALA LUMPUR – Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Monday (November 30) denied a claim that he was behind the move in February to form the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition with Malaysian parties from both sides of the hallway, reiterating that he would not team up with “kleptocrats” in the Umno leadership.
Economy Prime Minister Azmin Ali made the claim in an interview published in The Star on Sunday, during which he also “revealed” that Tun Dr. Mahathir was to remain prime minister of the PN.
“I have repeatedly explained that it is not true because PN is made up of kleptocrats and is backed by Umno enbloc. If I were the one who planned it, why am I against it … and if I had accepted it, I would definitely have stayed as prime minister as Azmin claims, “the former prime minister said in a statement.
Dr. Mahathir added that it was Datuk Seri Azmin who hatched the plan to leave the then ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition to form a new government with Umno and promote his ambition to eventually become prime minister.
“If there was someone who had seriously planned to form PN and exit PH, it would definitely have been Azmin and Muhyiddin, who had won the most. Don’t forget, when all this was happening, Azmin’s position in Keadilan and PH was threatened, ”he said, referring to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Azmin’s former party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
After the collapse of the PH government, Tan Sri Muhyiddin was appointed prime minister on March 1 and continues to lead the PN administration, albeit with a slim majority in Parliament.
Meanwhile, Azmin was appointed a high-ranking minister and was widely viewed as the de facto deputy prime minister.
Recalling the events that led to the downfall of PH, Dr. Mahathir said that Azmin risked losing his place in the PKR leadership hierarchy after a video of him allegedly involved in a homosexual affair went viral and his relationship with the party chairman, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, deteriorated to the point of becoming “unsustainable”.
“Anwar openly supported Rafizi in taking on Azmin for the vice president position, and when that failed, a video appeared connecting Azmin to sexually immoral acts. So (and) even though I was against Azmin planning the ‘Sheraton Move’, I can understand why he did it, ”said Tun Dr. Mahathir.
Rafizi Ramli is considered Anwar’s right-hand man and was the former vice president of PKR.
“This is because for him (Azmin), the most important thing is to prevent Anwar from becoming prime minister. If PH continued to rule, it is certain that Anwar would have had the opportunity to become PM, ”said Dr. Mahathir, adding that he was convinced that Azmin had been planning the formation of the PN for some time.
In the interview, Azmin stated that Dr. Mahathir should remain prime minister with the new coalition, which should include Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), as well as the then opposition parties Umno and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS). The plan did not have the explicit approval of Bersatu’s allies in PH – PKR, the Democratic Action Party and Parti Amanah Negara.
He said support for Dr. Mahathir was presented at the palace on February 23, in the form of 131 statutory statements from legislators from various parties. A simple majority of 112 deputies is needed to form the government.
Dr. Mahathir, however, unexpectedly resigned as prime minister the day after, on February 24. Subsequently, the PH government collapsed when dozens of MPs from Bersatu and PKR, led by Muhyiddin and Azmin, left and later formed PN.
PH defeated Umno and his allies in the Barisan Nasional in the historic general elections in May 2018, ending his six-decade rule in the country.
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