PADANG TERAP: Pakatan Harapan’s move to nominate Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the opposition pact’s interim prime minister if it wins the 14th General Election (GE14), is a ‘high-stakes chess game’ which in the end, would benefit DAP.
Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid described the latest move by the opposition pact as a personal chess game between Dr Mahathir and PKR’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Mahdzir said he believes both Dr Mahathir and Anwar were using each other for personal gain and it would be interesting to see who would succeed in check-mating the other first in the game they are playing.
"No matter who succeeds in check-mating the other first, in the end it is DAP who will reap the benefits,” he said.
Mahdzir, who is also Education Minister, claimed that DAP is riding on the Malay splinter parties to erode the people's support for Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN) just by watching from the sidelines.
He said that regardless of who is made the prime minister for Pakatan Harapan, DAP would emerge as the dominant party as the political unity among the Malays is being dismantled by splinters parties from Umno and Pas.
"After Anwar was sacked from Umno, he formed PKR and after Dr Mahathir left Umno, he formed Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), while Mohamad Sabu formed Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) after he left Pas.
"All the three splinter parties are being used to erode the support of the Malay voters to Umno and Pas while DAP, on the other hand, just sits and watches from the sidelines as a big brother.
"In the end, DAP will be the dominant force among the Pakatan Harapan components as the Malays voters are split among Umno, Pas and three splinter parties," he told reporters after attending a gathering with residents in Kampung Perik, Kuala Nerang here today.
Mahdzir said Pakatan Harapan is just a pact among parties with different personal agenda, to face the GE14. He said this should explain why the parties in Pakatan Harapan do not share a common stand on key issues, citing the objection by PKR insiders against Dr Mahathir’s nomination as its prime ministerial candidate as an example.
"In less than a week after announcing Dr Mahathir as their prime minister candidate, Selangor PKR openly objected to the move.
"The same sentiment was echoed by Sangeet Kaur Deo, the daughter of late DAP chairman Karpal Singh and the activists of a reformation movement who supported Anwar in 1998," he said.
Mahdzir added that, unlike Pakatan Harapan, BN under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has a clear direction and roadmap to develop the country.
He said regardless of the internal squabbles among the Pakatan Harapan components, BN is focusing on its machinery to face GE14.
