PAKATAN Harapan has not announced its prime ministerial candidate because the pact’s components and allies have yet to reach consensus, said Anwar Ibrahim.

“There is no final decision yet. Although Pakatan has decided, it still has to refer to parties such as Warisan and the Dr Mahathir Mohamad group,” said the PKR president on Facebook Live today.

Apologising for the delay, Anwar said the question of who should be prime minister was not the most pressing issue for the coalition. 

“Our priority should be to ensure there is an agenda for economic reform and better transparency in governance. This is more central than the decision on who should be prime minister,” said the Port Dickson MP. 

“As it is, the Perikatan Nasional government is appointing people without checks and balances to major institutions and oppressing minority groups.”

While the former government hopes to win back power, he said, it should not be at the expense of the people’s welfare.

“We also need to give confidence to investors. 

“But I wish to apologise for the delay in arriving at a decision,” said Anwar.

PH was expected yesterday to announce its prime ministerial candidate ahead of possible fresh elections.

But a meeting was cancelled at the last minute after the PH parties could not decide. I was reported that Dr Mahathir was aspired to hold the office – for a third time – for one year under the PH ticket.

The 22-month-old PH government collapsed on February 24 after Dr Mahathir resigned and Bersatu withdrew from the coalition. Bersatu and a group of 10 MPs led by former PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, later joined Barisan Nasional, PAS, GPS and several Sabah MPs to form the Perikatan Nasional government.

It is estimated that PN has 115 MPs supporting it while PH has 107. – June 17, 2020.