A BERSATU grassroots leader said that there is no other candidate suitable to be interim prime minister for Pakatan Harapan besides Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Bersatu Ampang division chief Zulkifly Mohamad said Dr Mahathir was the most suitable candidate due to his 22 years of experience in governing the country.

“I don’t see any other candidate that could beat Dr Mahathir in this regard,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said dissent was mainly focused among those in the bottom rungs of power, and urged them to abide by the decision of the top leadership.

“When Dr Mahathir’s name was proposed, we knew many at the bottom would not agree. But that’s a different matter. The decision has been made.

“Dr Mahathir will not be the interim (prime minister) forever and we are confident he will stick by his word,” Zulkifly said.

“When the decision has been made, members have to abide by the decision unanimously.” 

Zulkifly was speaking at a Bersatu event in Ampang where a group of 113 septuagenarian and sexagenarians from Lembah Jaya declared their support for Bersatu.

The senior citizens were previously loyal supporters of Umno and PAS for the past four decades but said that the current government failed to protect the interest of the people, especially concerning cost of living.

Yesterday, sources told The Malaysian Insight that PKR had set three conditions for it to consent to having Dr Mahathir as Pakatan interim prime minister if opposition bloc wins the 14th General Election (GE14).

The first condition was the immediate release of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim from jail and for him to be appointed prime minister within six to 12 months of the opposition coalition’s victory.

“The second condition is that PKR be allocated the most federal seats to contest in GE14. PKR wants around 60 seats in Peninsular Malaysia.

“The third condition is for Dr Mahathir to agree to reform key institutions in the country,” said the source.

Earlier today, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil said the party wanted more time to discuss Pakatan’s proposal to name Dr Mahathir and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as prime minister and deputy prime minister, respectively, ahead of GE14. 

He said the priority should be how to reform the country, and not who should replace the current prime minister. – December 29, 2017.