KOTA KINABALU: The Pakatan Harapan decision to name Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister, should the opposition coalition come out tops in the upcoming general election, is a “desperate move”.
Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah vice-president Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin said today he was puzzled that Dr Mahathir was “still going for the prime minister position” after saying that he would retire from politics”.
“When he was named (as the candidate for prime minister during the Pakatan Harapan convention), after having left the prime minister’s position for some 10 years or so, it showed that this was a desperate move,” said the one-time PKR member.
Lajim said this also showed that the opposition coalition had no new people as leaders should they form the new government.
However, he said it was now up to the people to decide at the polls whether they can accept the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman as the next prime minister.
Lajim was asked to respond to the announcement that Pakatan Harapan had chosen Dr Mahathir as the interim prime minister and PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as deputy.
He said as the opposition pact had claimed that the decision was interim, the country could later see Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim installed as prime minister after a few months.
However, he warned that the nation’s administrative system could become unstable if there was a frequent change of leaders and, possibly, policies.