DAP’S choice for prime minister, if Pakatan Harapan (PH) wins GE14, is Anwar Ibrahim, said party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, maintaining the party’s support for the jailed de facto leader of PKR.

Lim also played down talk of an internal spat in PH over leadership and prime minister candidate issues, saying such claims were Barisan Nasional propaganda to make it appear all was not well within the opposition.

“Who says we are not getting along? We are still meeting. In a democratic process, everyone has to be given room to express his or her views. 

“Just because we have discussions, and certain decisions others want us to make have not been announced, they jump to conclusions that are not accurate,” he told reporters in Komtar today.

Lim, however, did not want to reveal what was on the agenda in this Friday’s PH presidential council meeting, except that the issue of who was prime minister candidate, was not on the list.

“It is a scheduled meeting. I am not supposed to tell you about it. But the agenda on the PM is not on the table. Some leaders are also overseas,” he said.

Lim was asked to comment on talks that there was trouble in the PH coalition over its indecisiveness to name a prime minister candidate.

The lack of a candidate, as the next general election approaches, has given BN and detractors ammo to criticise the opposition coalition, and voters the impression that PH still could not get its act together.

Last week, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he was willing to consider taking up his old job if PH wanted him to.

But yesterday, Anwar, who has been prime minister-in-waiting for years, said PH would decide based on consensus and would take no volunteers.

Lim said it was a challenge that PH needed to embrace if the coalition wanted to present itself as a strong alternative to BN.

“If there was disagreement in the coalition, those involved could smoothen things out themselves.

“It is just that for the interim period, there are several suggestions (on who should be prime minister). Anwar had said that it is open for discussion and we will go with the general consensus.

“Opinions have been offered by various people. We are strong individuals who offer our opinions forcefully.

“As far as we are concerned, there is no spat. There is always give and take,” he said.

Lim said claims that PH was not as intact as before were “blown out of proportion by the BN media”.

He said the coalition’s member parties all needed room to discuss and adjust in moving forward, not only its latest member Bersatu.

“We all have to express our views and adjust accordingly. We are proceeding well in this process,” he said.

He said the first ceramah together with Bersatu leaders who were formerly from Umno had been awkward, but now DAP events featuring Mahathir, Bersatu president and deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin and Mukhriz Mahathir were natural.

“We cannot expect things to happen overnight. It will also depend on whether we will have enough time to adjust,” he said, referring to the 14th general election that could be called anytime.

Asked on feedback from the ground on PKR, DAP and Amanah working with personalities like Dr Mahathir, Malaysia’s longest serving prime minister, Lim said “it did not hurt” to cooperate with him now that he had left Umno.

“It is something everyone has grappled with, especially when we had fought him for so many years.

“At this juncture, when we look at the change of government, it doesn’t hurt to have people, who were within that regime or power structure but have left because they are completely disgusted by the corruption within.

“They are willing to come out to confront and fight that power structure because they agree that it is destroying the country,” he said.

Lim said it was true that the opposition did not agree with Dr Mahathir on some matters, but it was true that the 92-year-old former prime minister never had a billion dollars in his personal bank account.

“He was willing to leave Umno, which he led for 22 years to bring down this government to save Malaysia,” he said, adding that everyone knew the impact of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

Lim also said Anwar was once an Umno man until he was sacked and became an opposition politician, but the people could accept him.

“The feedback (on working with Dr Mahathir) is mixed but many understand. Our supporters and the civil society groups have this understanding.

“I am not saying we forgive and excuse all his excesses. There are bigger challenge in front of us,” he said.

Lim also said BN parties from Sabah to Penang should be answering the real questions on allegedly receiving 1MDB funds.

“These are the real questions. Why are they not explaining?”. – June 6, 2017.