Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia’s Anwar Ibrahim said Sunday that he was not discounting the possibility that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) pact could return to power in May, countering the view of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad that lawmakers who had supported his side had defected in return for “sweets”.
Datuk Seri Anwar, president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), one of the three member parties of PH, also refused to respond to jibes made against him by Tun Dr Mahathir, who blamed Mr Anwar’s “impatience” to become prime minister for PH’s collapse three weeks ago.
A scheduled Parliament sitting this week was cancelled by new Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, with the next session to take place only on May 18.
PH is hoping to muster support from the minimum 112 MPs in the 222-strong Parliament to oust the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin, amid talk that PH does not have the minimum number of lawmakers.
“We will see what should be done in the next few weeks. We are not discounting any possibility,” Mr Anwar, 72, told a press conference.
When asked if all hope is lost in a no-confidence vote in Parliament’s May sitting, he said the pact is “discussing and looking at avenues”.
Mr Anwar indicated that Dr Mahathir is no longer part of the PH coalition, but some of the PH leaders met the 94-year-old yesterday.
Get exclusive insights of Asia from our network of correspondents. Keep up with the latest in the region with the ST Asian Insider newsletter, delivered to your inbox every weekday “Dr Mahathir is not a member of PH. But we are open to discussion; in fact he had invited some of us to see him today,” he said.—Agencies
