New narrative in place to make Zahid DPM, says Dr Mahathir

Noel Achariam Noel Achariam Updated 1 year ago · Published on 30 Nov 2022 4:26PM · 2 Comments

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says certain parties are white-washing Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s image so that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim can appoint him as the deputy prime minister in his new Cabinet. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Nazir Sufari, November 30, 2022.

EFFORTS are underway to whitewash Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s image so that he can be appointed as the deputy prime minister in Anwar Ibrahim’s cabinet, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said. 

The former prime minister said Zahid’s part in the new government was important to ensure Anwar remains in power.

Anwar-led Pakatan Harapan could not muster a majority to form a government on its own and had to work with rivals Barisan Nasional and Gabungan Parti Sarawak in order to form a unity government.

Anwar is set to name his cabinet by the end of this week.

“They (certain parties) are now whitewashing Zahid’s image. In our legal system, you are innocent until proven guilty, so they will say he qualifies.”

“They will demand (that Zahid gets the DPM post) because if Umno pulls out, then the government will collapse,” he told The Malaysian Insight in a recent interview. 

Earlier today, party sources said Anwar is likely to name Zahid as one of two deputies as the new prime minister balances a stable administration against a strong Malay opposition bench. 

Critics have been up in arms this week on speculation that Zahid could be a deputy prime minister, pointing out he still has 47 corruption and money laundering charges to answer for, even though he was acquitted of 40 bribery charges in September.

Dr Mahathir said Anwar would need the support of all parties to keep his government intact.

“Post-GE14, Azmin (former PKR deputy president Mohamad Azmin Ali) together with some MPs from Bersatu had managed to undermine PH so much that they lost their majority. Then I was no longer PM.”

“So, they (PH) couldn’t be a government,” he said referring to the Sheraton move which saw the collapse of the PH government in February 2020.

He said similarly, former prime minister Muhyiddin also couldn’t get a majority and his government too collapsed in August 2022. 

“Then, when Muhyiddin couldn’t free Najib Razak (jailed former prime minister) from the charges, Najib pulled out 15 MPs and Muhyiddin’s government collapsed. 

“Then his DPM (Ismail Sabri Yaakob) from Umno became the PM,” said Dr Mahathir. –  November 30, 2022.
 

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Comments

  • Mr Old Man. Do you have an answer? Would you rather PN come to power? If that your evil intention? You are irrelevant now. Rejected by your own people. So please just fade away into the horizons. Nobody will miss you or your ideas or suggestions

    Posted 1 year ago by Brave Malaysian · Reply

  • Tun Mahathir reading of the political reality in Malaysia is second to none. He is a brilliant and screwed political operative with a vision to uplift Malaysians and not just the Malays to a better standard of living in line with the status of a developed nation.

    Many do not understand why he formed GTA to contest in GE15. Many dismissed his efforts as disillusioned and power craze which are superficial conclusions. Please give Tun more credit than that. I reckon Tun knew that the rural Malays will only support a Malay based party, a result of 60+ years of UMNO's mental conditioning. Inasmuch as they detest corruption, power abuse, nepotism and all the bad traits of UMNO, they may feel compel to continue with voting the latter or give their votes to PN as these are their only alternatives.

    BN-UMNO and PN are two opposite sides of extreme. The former lead by leaders corrupt to the core and the latter, by religious bigots who spin edicts at their convenience and clueless about how to manage a state let alone a nation. Tun knew there is a need for a middle ground Malay party to present a 3rd alternative. The idea is to snatch enough votes from BN and PN to deny them the reins to Putrajaya as our country cannot accept either extremes.

    However, GTA was just not given enough time to establish themselves having being cobbled just months prior. I too was amaze as to why GTA was contesting in more than 120 seats being "the new kid on the block" but I reckoned Tun Mahathir must have an objective.

    Be it as it may, GTA failed badly and as feared, the vast majority of Malays gave their votes to PN and UMNO. The PH coalition lost very significant Malay support and neither PKR nor Amanah are viable alternatives for the rural Malay voters due to the presence of non-Malays especially in DAP. I would still give Tun an "A" for his efforts even though it came to nought.

    We now have a situation of a fragile govt propped up by former foes and surrounded by religious extremist. An unintended outcome of GE15 and an unenviable position for the ruling coalition. I pray our country will navigate thru safely in these stormy times.

    Posted 1 year ago by Super Duper · Reply