PAKATAN HARAPAN chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he is willing to take up the post of interim prime minister as the opposition leadership prepares for the PH presidential council meeting on Friday.

The former prime minister said he would accept PH’s proposal to nominate him as the coalition’s prime minister candidate should it win the general election next year.

“I don’t know. If people are really desperate and they cannot find anybody else, maybe this 93-year-old can become interim prime minister,” he told reporters at PKR’s headquarters in Petaling Jaya today. 

In a PH retreat earlier this month, component parties except for PKR, had agreed to Dr Mahathir as interim prime minister and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as deputy prime minister if it wins GE14.

The opposition is likely to name its candidate for prime minister at this Friday’s meet. 

While Dr Wan Azizah reportedly agreed to the arrangement, PKR is said to be divided over the nomination of Dr Mahathir as interim prime minister.

Dr Mahathir said the nominations process is not completed yet, despite the declaration by several opposition components they were willing to accept him as interim prime minister. 

“They haven’t nominated me yet. There was no decision made. They didn’t reach any conclusion,” he said.

At a PH fundraiser last Friday, Amanah vice-president Husam Musa said the opposition coalition should quickly choose a prime minister candidate to improve its chances of winning the 14th general election.

Husam, a former PAS vice-president, said the topic of a prime minister candidate had been “taboo” in Pakatan Rakyat, the now-defunct opposition pact that included PAS.

“None of the leaders then were willing to step forward with suggestions … But now in Pakatan Harapan we can discuss the matter.

“Without a candidate for prime minister, we don’t have the confidence of certain segments of society who would otherwise back us. There are parts of society right now that have reservations because we don’t have a candidate.

“It would be the first time the opposition coalition names a prime minister candidate before an election. This will be a pivotal moment in our country’s political history.” – December 12, 2017.