Parti Ikatan Bangsa Malaysia (Ikatan) president Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir holds that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has a strong mandate to lead the country, therefore there is no need for him to resign.

Abdul Kadir - whose party recently joined hands with PAS in forming a new opposition bloc - was responding to the Citizens’ Declaration , which demands the resignation of Najib.

In an interview with Utusan Malaysia’s Sunday edition Mingguan Malaysia, Abdul Kadir pointed out BN currently enjoys the support of the majority in Parliament.

“If it’s not two-thirds, then at least almost two-thirds of MPs support BN to continue being the government, this means almost two-thirds of the rakyat throughout the country support BN," he said.

The 14 parties in BN want Najib to be the leader in Parliament while almost 95 percent of Umno division leaders are in support of him, Abdul Kadir added.

“So who are we to deny the rights of the rakyat?

“We must wait for the next elections to return the mandate and after that, the party which has the most number of MPs will decide who will then become the premier."

Sad at Dr M's doings

Meanwhile, asked to comment on former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad who has spearheaded efforts to urge for Najib’s resignation, Abdul Kadir admitted that he was sad that the nonagenarian had to go to such lengths. However, he also understood why the former premier had done what he did.

“I was in Umno for 56 years. But why did I leave the party? I left because there were people who challenged me to do so, because I did not agree with the culture of money politics.

“So I can understand, maybe there was something that had really disappointed him," he said.

On claims that the opposition is only manipulating Mahathir’s presence, Abdul Kadir said that was the reason why he preferred collaborating with PAS.

The opposition, he said, only quarrel among themselves.

“That's why I am very grateful because PAS has changed its ways a little. It wants to be a mature and responsible political player – engaging with the government to find ways to solve the rakyat’s problems.

“This is PAS and Ikatan’s new aim, we will meet to discuss often on ways to solve the rakyat’s problems.

“God willing, we will meet the prime minister and other ministers. We will give suggestions to solve the problems faced by the rakyat,” he said.