KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's former ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH) has rejected caretaker Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's plan for a government that abandons the coalition's manifesto.
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Anwar Ibrahim said the question of the three-party pact approaching Tun Mahathir "does not arise" even as his coalition colleagues called the interim premier's plan to form a non-partisan government outside the framework of PH "foolish and shortsighted".
"Tun has left (Pakatan) Harapan," Datuk Seri Anwar told reporters after chairing a PH meeting on Thursday (Feb 27).
When asked if PH would accept Dr Mahathir's Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) into the coalition again, Mr Anwar replied: "We change by the day."
The Democratic Action Party (DAP), another PH component party, on Thursday accused Dr Mahathir of refusing to commit to delivering promises made by their PH coalition, leading to his resignation as premier on Monday. The third member of PH is Parti Amanah Nasional.
PPBM and a group of PKR MPs left PH on Monday, causing the 22-month ruling coalition to collapse.
DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng said in a statement that Dr Mahathir refused to commit to fulfilling the PH election promises at their meeting on Monday morning in the Prime Minister's Office.
"Tun refused to remain as PH Prime Minister and refused to commit to fulfil and deliver the PH General Election Manifesto," the former finance minister said.
He added that "PH won the mandate of the rakyat in the 2018 general elections based on the PH General Election Manifesto", a set of electoral pledges to reform government and roll out populist policies.
DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, Mr Lim Guan Eng's father and also a member of the PH presidential council, added in a separate statement that "it is foolish and short-sighted to purportedly establish a national unity government by destroying the Pakatan Harapan government".
This comes after PH ordered its 92 MPs to vote for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as their choice for prime minister when being interviewed by the King on Wednesday, ostensibly following through on the pact's transition agreement whereby Dr Mahathir would make way for the PKR president midterm.
Dr Mahathir had gone on national television on Wednesday evening to call for a "non-partisan" unity government of individual MPs who put aside party ideologies for the sake of national interest.
But the elder Lim insisted "no national unity government can be established on treachery, deceit, corruption, betrayal of the people's mandate or by promoting national disunity".
"The ideal way to establish a national unity government is to build on the Pakatan Harapan coalition and convince other political parties and entities to come together... based on the Pakatan Harapan mandate in the 14th General Election for a New Malaysia," he said.
He also questioned whether the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) and Islamist Parti Islam SeMalaysia now supported the PH manifesto as well as the ongoing prosecution of BN leaders for graft.
Dr Mahathir met party chiefs across the political divide on Monday morning to explain the need for his grand coalition, after some PH leaders, including those from his own Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) and rebels from PKR banded together with the opposition on Sunday to ensure he stayed in power until the next election instead of handing the reins to Mr Anwar.
The 94-year-old subsequently resigned the premiership and as chair of PPBM before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong appointed him interim head of government while the King polled MPs to see if a new government could be formed.
