YOURSAY | ‘Why do DAP and Amanah believe Warisan, GPS and parts of Bersatu will support Anwar after six months?’

We're still backing Anwar but can wait 6 months - DAP and Amanah

Siva1967: DAP and Amanah, please focus on wresting power back by coming up with a solid reform agenda, forming a shadow cabinet and enticing voters with what was promised in the GE14 manifesto.

Stop playing politics by trying to say that it is okay to wait for six months under a Mahathir premiership and Anwar can take over thereafter. What gives you the confidence that after Mahathir “steps down”, Harapan Plus will be intact to govern till GE15?

Mahathir is the main reason why Harapan is back in the opposition. In his determination to deter Anwar from taking the premiership, he instigated the Sheraton Move. The best thing for Mahathir to do to redeem himself is to throw his support behind Anwar and lobby for support for him from “fence-sitting” Bersatu MPs.

Similarly, DAP and Amanah should do likewise, unless you all have become too cosy with Mahathir. Appoint Mahathir as mentor minister and give him a wonderful retirement party. If he is really sincere, he does not need power to guide the new PM.

So, DAP and Amanah, stay true to the cause and don’t renegade from this. If the voters smell a rat coming from you, they will not hesitate to punish you in the next polls.

Straight Citizen: How are we to solve this political impasse? Is it even worthy of our lamentation? Why are we on it as if Harapan will be able to just trot back into power if they sort their own mess?

The solution - all it will sincerely take is for Mahathir to come out and say openly that he will be working to convince Warisan and all Harapan-related parties, that for the sake of the nation's past electoral mandate, he is going to fully support Anwar as the PM. Get Sabah and Sarawak on board and learn for once to be a true peacemaker.

Mahathir need not use proxies such as DAP and Amanah to do the convincing when it is he alone who should comment about his position on the matter.

If he really wants that PM role so bad for six months just to wipe a little stain off the hard-caked grime on his sullied reputation, he should make a public declaration or sign a document in full presence of his partners to prove that he is genuinely sincere.

I don't want to give up hope on our politics but I'm still shaking my head in disbelief that our pool of potential PM candidates and even the incumbent, will continue to drag us to the direction of a failed state.

Kim Quek: If Mahathir shares Harapan’s reform objectives, can he give one single convincing reason why he must be PM for six months before handing over to Anwar and not supporting Anwar as PM right now (no more phoney reasons, please)?

Similarly, can DAP and Amanah do so? Can Shafie Apdal of Warisan also do so?

As for GPS, it has already said repeatedly that it will continue to support the Muhyiddin-led PN government. Neither has Mahathir secured its support for a Harapan government.

Admit it, there is no fail-safe mechanism to ensure Mahathir’s compliance of the six-month pledge (in writing or otherwise). DAP and Amanah’s assurance of the six-month interim premiership for Mahathir is deceitful or self-delusional, blinded by their obsession to seize power at all costs.

All indications point to a repeat of Mahathir’s earlier betrayal of Harapan once he is in the seat of power again. Under the circumstances, DAP and Amanah’s insistence of Mahathir becoming the PM again is now regarded as a grand betrayal of the electorate.

White Cat3802: The chiefs of DAP and Amanah are very sensible men and are also down to earth and honourable in their words and deeds. Their support for Anwar as PM has never wavered but they also are very practical.

If Anwar cannot have the numbers, they advise Anwar to give way to Mahathir for six months to recapture Putrajaya and save the nation before it is too late.

Anwar will still be the PM in six months’ time but the only difference is the placing, PM9 or PM10.

Just give the near centurion six months to make a world record no other nation can ever break - world’s oldest PM and world’s only three-time PM.

Lucky: If Warisan, GPS and parts of Bersatu are not supporting Anwar now, why do DAP and Amanah believe they will support him after six months? I don't understand the logic.

If the same story happened again in six months and they still insist for Mahathir to be PM, what should Harapan do then?

It is not whether Mahathir is willing to pass the role, but the people who are not supportive of Anwar as PM. Should there then be a snap election or will they insist Mahathir continue on?

PKR already mentioned that they don't accept Mahathir and don't mind being the opposition, a good stand on principle. So why would DAP and Amanah still want Mahathir to come back? Who is the power crazy one now?

Orange Cheetah9224: Indeed, if GPS and Warisan can't support Anwar now, what makes PKR think they won't withdraw their support after Mahathir steps down in six months?

What can you achieve in this short time when with 22 months you kept on saying the manifesto couldn’t be achieved?

It’s better to gear up and prepare for snap polls. You are already losing your vote banks because you should be listening to the people who don't want DAP back into a flimsy coalition and being under Mahathir’s thumb.

Constitutional Supremacy: Politicians Anthony Loke and Khalid Samad had done the right thing in exposing the impasse created by Anwar. PKR is being weakened daily and will be a spent force by election time.

If Anwar leads the campaign and elections are held now, the best Harapan could hope for is between 70-80 seats. This means PN can take about 130 seats and Warisan about 10.

But if Harapan Plus can agree on the second option and give Mahathir six months, then the scenario is different. In six months, Mahathir can unite Bersatu and raise Harapan Plus’ total MP seats to at least 130. Then Anwar can have about two years before calling elections.

Xo Xo: How does this six-month deadline square with Mahathir who has proclaimed that he can never accept a deadline to his time in office which would otherwise make him a lame duck PM.

From his past records and action, Mahathir cannot be trusted. DAP may have suffered a short memory loss but not the supporters and voters of GE14 when Mahathir said he would pass the rein to Anwar but did not.

Get real, if the game plan is only to have Mahathir back for six months, that time is just good for him to bury Harapan politically for good.

Naghul: Going by Mahathir’s track record, it is unlikely he will surrender his power within that short period of time, so what is his agenda for the six months? I know DAP and Amanah are eager to return to the cabinet, but that doesn't justify the six-month timeframe.

And finally, Mahathir will be more than happy to dissolve Parliament once his work is done rather than hand over to Anwar. I'm still baffled on why DAP and Amanah couldn't figure out these scenarios before openly declaring their backing for the six-month transition period?

Mvarughi: I agree with the stand taken by DAP leader Lim Guan Eng and Amanah head Mat Sabu. This is the best option for Malaysia Baru.

For all those with such venom against Mahathir, please be reminded that at his worst, he is way better than Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and former premier Najib Abdul Razak and the rest.

Mahathir will keep his word as he wants to leave a great legacy. Hopefully, PKR will accept that they don’t have the numbers and support the Harapan Plus initiative to rid the country of the traitors and kleptocrats. That should be the overriding consideration in this situation.

Legit: When Harapan was in power, Mahathir was not able to get GPS to join the coalition. So, DAP and Amanah expect him to get GPS to join Harapan now?

And what is this six months’ transition all about? Transition from what? After all the chaos caused by Mahathir, you should be starting afresh.

Rest assured, within the six months that you give Mahathir, he will send Anwar to jail again, will continue to rule and will join PN leaving DAP and Amanah out in the cold.

Once bitten twice shy. You were bitten twice and you, DAP and Amanah, want to get bitten thrice now. Mahathir cannot be trusted. If you don't understand this, you do not deserve to be running the government.

MS: That’s enough, DAP and Amanah. Mahathir, if given six months, will do even more damage than he managed to do over the 22 months Harapan was in office. And as he does his worst, both DAP and Amanah will remain mute to maintain power, perks and privileges.

So tell the world - what is it he’ll do as PM which cannot be done by the rest of the coalition? Why does he so desperately want to be PM for the third time?

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