THE breakthrough for a possible Pakatan Harapan (PH) government under Dr Mahathir Mohamad again came late last night, after he relented to his daughter Marina Mahathir’s request to meet the remaining parties in his collapsed government.

In a day of fast-moving events where alliances and promises were made and broken quicker than saying “Assalamualaikum”, a fuming Dr Mahathir kept silent and refused to speak to any politician, including the precocious Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman who leads Armada, Bersatu’s youth wing.

The PH leaders reached out to Marina, a social activist and publisher, to get a short meeting where they eventually hammered out an agreement similar to the one a week ago.

“It took a few phone calls and text messages but finally Marina managed to get her father around to speaking to PH leaders,” a source told The Malaysian Insight.

That would mean Dr Mahathir remains as prime minister, still choose his retirement date after the KL Apec Summit and a government that would include technocrats.

Sources said Dr Mahathir will still have to get the numbers from Sarawak and Sabah parties to be named as prime minister but there were “encouraging signs”.

The details have yet to be finalised but PKR’s Wong Chen alluded to the agreement in a Facebook post, saying PKR president Anwar Ibrahim would not join the new Mahathir administration.

There is also speculation that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) would join the new cabinet as well as Sabah’s Warisan.

Sarawak DAP leader Chong Chieng Jen said the chapter is willing to make concessions to GPS in the upcoming state election, in the name of national interest.

“In the name of national interest, anything can,” he told the Malaysiakini news portal.

Dr Mahathir had issued a statement this morning saying he would request to meet the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as a prospective prime as he had the numbers.

He and PH leaders later met the Agong after Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin and allies Mohamed Azmin Ali, Umno and PAS leaders did the same.

Muhyiddin later issued a statement saying that Dr Mahathir was no longer party chairman, two days after accepting his return to the post.

But a split is occurring in Bersatu now as the party secretary-general Marzuki Yahya insisted Dr Mahathir remains chairman. – February 29, 2020.