PKR can trigger polls if Dr Mahathir fails to honour agreement, says DAP

Updated 3 years ago · Published on 18 Jun 2020 11:49AM · 4 Comments

DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke says PKR, or any Pakatan Plus party, can pull out of the pact and trigger snap elections if Dr Mahathir Mohamad does not honour their agreement. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, June 18, 2020.

PKR can pull out and force an election if Dr Mahathir Mohamad doesn’t step down as prime minister at the stipulated time, said DAP organising secretary Anthony Loke.

“Each party will be able to bring down the government by itself if they pull out. If the promise is not kept (by Dr Mahathir), PKR has the option to force an election by that time,” Loke told Malaysiakini in an interview today.

Loke said that it is natural for the public to be sceptical of Pakatan Harapan Plus’ (PH+) proposal to make Dr Mahathir prime minister again after its government fell in February.

“Of course, people can question if he will keep his promise. Our answer to that is six months down the road, there are mechanisms to make that happen.

“PKR has 38 MPs. Without them, Dr Mahathir cannot continue to govern.”

Loke was responding to the impasse plaguing PH+ pertaining to its candidate for prime minister, ahead of the 15th general election and amid talks of snap polls.

DAP, Amanah and Warisan are in favour of having Dr Mahathir as its prime minister candidate in the event of snap elections, while PKR is backing its president Anwar Ibrahim.

PH+, which is made up of PKR, DAP, Amanah, Warisan and a faction of Bersatu lawmakers led by Dr Mahathir, were supposed to announce its decision on Tuesday but backed out at the last minute as they could not agree on the matter.

Bersatu, founded by Dr Mahathir, is no longer part of PH after its president and current prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin pulled it out of PH in late February to form the current government with Barisan Nasional, PAS and PKR defectors.

Loke said that PH is obliged to form the government with its allies because of the mandate given during the 2018 election.

He said DAP is inclined to learn from past mistakes instead of indulging in a blame game on who is responsible for the fall of the PH government in February.

“Of course if you want to play the blame game, everyone will blame each other. We are willing to learn from the past and move on.

“If we play the blame game, one side will blame Dr Mahathir, his side will blame another. There will be no end to that.

“I am not saying he didn’t make any mistakes. We have told him that he resigned without consulting anybody and that caused the collapse of the government,” he added. – June 18, 2020.

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Comments

  • Firstly, PH has to get the advice of a geriatric doctor whether Tun is still mentally rational at the Age of 95. He might be physically fit .Take a public poll and see what the citizens say

    Posted 3 years ago by Aplanaidu Pathanaidu · Reply

    • Totally agree

      Posted 3 years ago by Elyse Gim · Reply

  • His intention of resigning was to be appointed as PM 8 with absolute power. He got played out and that is the reality. The buck has to stop and it stops right on his table. He betrayed the very voters who had suffered under his 22 yrs as PM, yet trusted him and voted for him. He not only betrayed them but called their ancestors, people of low value. I don't think Malaysians in general will ever trust him again.

    Posted 3 years ago by Harit das · Reply

  • Thats not reassuring enough Anthony. TDM should just make way for someone else for otherwise a new election seems likely. DAP is making a monumental mistake in supporting TDM as he has repeatedly proven that he cannot be trusted at all

    Posted 3 years ago by Mike Mok · Reply