TODAY’S Malay Dignity Congress is to do nothing more than to shore up the position of Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the prime minister and forestall the handover of power to Anwar Ibrahim, said Penang DAP leader P. Ramasamy.

“There is an obvious realignment of gathering of forces among those in Bersatu as well as from outside to support Dr Mahathir from adhering to the Pakatan Harapan succession plan,” he said in a statement today.

“In a nutshell, the MDC is all about shoring up support for Dr Mahathir from giving up power to Anwar.” 

The Penang deputy chief minister said the event was the brainchild of some leaders who had left Umno for Bersatu following the last general election.

Without naming them, Ramasamy said these Umno leaders were using the four organising public universities as a front for their plans.

He said their purpose was to ingratiate themselves with the powers in PH, particularly Dr Mahathir.

“With the slow but sure development of crony kleptocracy, these leaders or organisers who have been left out of the economic gravy train for some time are clamouring for economic goodies from the PH government.

“What better way to show their presence or importance than organise this congress, invite Mahathir to give the opening address and provide some semblance of neutrality by inviting PAS president Hadi Awang.

“But the congress is anything but neutral,” he said.

This is the second time Ramasamy is hitting out at the MDC in as many days.

On Friday, he said the congress had the agenda of bringing together Dr Mahathir and PAS while freezing out PKR president Anwar, who was not invited.

 “I believe that the entire affair is organised to bring together Dr Mahathir and PAS,” he had said.

The event is organised by Universiti Malaya’s Malay Excellence Studies Centre in collaboration with UiTM, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Sultan Idris Education University.

The organisers said Dr Mahathir was invited because he was the leader of a Malay party.

Critics have slammed the invitation and its acceptance, saying the prime minister should be representative of not just one race but all Malaysians .

Anwar, meanwhile, has said that he hoped Dr Mahathir would have a message for all Malaysians when he addressed the audience today.

Anwar confirmed he was not invited.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang is expected to attend while Umno will be represented by its secretary-general Annuar Musa.

The event comes on the heels of  Umno and PAS formalising a unity pact with the aim of bringing together the Malays for support in the next general election. – October 6, 2019.