YOURSAY | ‘Show the people that the Harapan presidential council is made of sterner stuff.’

Immediate transition? Harapan can sack me if they want - PM

Kim Quek: Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s objection to handing over of power “midstream” marks a new landmark of his hitherto ambiguous play on the issue of power transition.

It is an outright betrayal of the agreement signed by all component parties of Pakatan Harapan before GE14 for Mahathir to serve as interim (or stop-gap) PM, pending PKR president Anwar Ibrahim’s legal qualification to assume the premiership.

It is also a breach of trust on the electorate who voted for Harapan in GE14 on its solemn pledge of such power transition to Anwar, who has always been recognised – not Mahathir – as the undisputed leader of the reform movement.

In view of such a serious development which alters the fundamental nature and structure of the Harapan partnership, the Harapan presidential council must ask Mahathir to state his position on this issue clearly and categorically at its next meeting, so that it can deliberate on the next course of action.

Gerard Lourdesamy: Mahathir, define "midstream"? When you drop dead, is it? The fact is you agreed to be an interim PM until such time that Anwar can take over.

Next May, it will be two years. How much longer do you want to continue? You must be fair to Anwar and give him time to prepare for GE15. Otherwise, Harapan will be a one-term government.

It is not for you to decide on who shall take over. The four parties in Harapan agreed in January 2018 that Anwar would be prime minister after you, not PKR deputy president Azmin Ali. So why are you undermining the process?

To date, you have achieved very little that has benefited the rakyat other than charging top Umno leaders for corruption. The economy is at a standstill. Institutional and legal reforms are non-existent. Race relations have deteriorated.

What you want is to remain in power and ensure that Bersatu replaces Umno as the dominant Malay party in the country and continue with your misguided policies with zero changes to the system.

That is not what you promised last year, and the majority of Malaysians did not vote Harapan into power in GE14 to return to your outdated methods of governance and economic mismanagement.

SRMan: Mahathir said problems would be created if a transition is made "midstream"?

Going back to history, Mahathir succeeded Hussein Onn as PM in July 1981, about three years after the 1978 general election. He resigned in 2003 and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over, four years after the GE in 1999. Then Najib Abdul Razak took over in 2009, less than a year after the 2008 GE.

Were there confusions or serious problems created when all the three transitions took place “midstream”? Did our country come to a standstill or did the government machinery stall? No, it was business as usual.

Leaders of a country come and go anytime and so too with captains of industries. When the situation requires, leave. More so, when a succession plan is already in place.

Anonymous_3f4b: Mahathir has thrown the gauntlet at the Harapan presidential council.

Now it is up to Anwar, Harapan president Wan Azizah Wan Ibrahim, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu to take up the challenge and throw him out.

Do they dare do it or will it be mere rhetoric as usual? Show the people that the presidential council is made of sterner stuff and can make decisions decisively or forever be damned as gutless cowards without the gumption to do the right thing.

Undecided: Unfortunately, Anwar is not in a position to challenge Mahathir. That's the reality. He just does not have enough support for a “no confidence” vote.

I also believe that Anwar knows the job of PM in this agitated political state is a very difficult one.

There is just not enough experienced talent within Harapan to push through the reforms in a speed that matches the expectations of the rakyat. Most of the ministers are first-timers and working with a sometimes hostile civil service used to the way Umno/BN operated.

Anwar’s only option is to be patient and hopes that with the Tanjung Piai debacle, Mahathir wakes up to the fact that Harapan cannot retain its traditional supporters if he continues as he did.

Hopefully, Mahathir will then push through some of the politically sensitive promises like the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) and hand Anwar the premiership when the government is more stable.

Prudent: @Undecided, Anwar is not in a position to challenge Mahathir? I don’t think so. Anwar's pit bulls are out and raring to go and finish the reformasi they started 21 years ago.

At that time Mahathir was physically younger, stronger and have more political clout. He also had the infamous Internal Security Act.

But that did not deter Anwar's pit bulls who were then very young, disorganised and inexperienced. I personally found myself in the thick of one of those demonstrations. The youngsters were then as determined as today’s Hong Kong protesters.

But now they are more experienced, more organised and have more power both socially and politically.

Furthermore, Mahathir has primed their anger with the unjust arrests over the Azmin sex tapes and using Sosma for what is perceived as dubious arrests over the long-dead Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organisation.

In their eyes, Mahathir has lost legitimacy at least four times over. First, he is overstaying as the interim and transitional PM as per the Harapan manifesto. Second, he has used oppressive laws.

Third, he mollycoddled controversial Muslim preacher Zakir Naik. And fourth, his race and religion rhetoric had culminated with the voters of Tanjung Piai handing his party, Bersatu, a knockout defeat.

Mahathir should go now, if not sooner. And before Anwar's pit bulls pull loose from Anwar's hands.

Malaysian-United: Mahathir, we will bite the bullet. With you around, it's worse.

Anwar, what on earth are you waiting for? If you can't lead then the council should appoint an interim PM. We may not be 100 percent ready for change, but change is what we need. And better sooner than later.

With Mahathir at the helm, Harapan is almost guaranteed to fail. With changes to the leadership, there is still hope. We have really nothing to lose. Things can only get better.

La Komentar: He was once the hero of Malaysia. Now he's overstayed his welcome and is refusing to rest on his laurels and step down gracefully.

I suppose it's true that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

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