KUCHING: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s suggestion for Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal as prime-minister candidate is not likely to make any splash in the political arena.
Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo said the rakyat and voters do not have the indulgence to vote for who they want to be the prime minister.
On top of that, Dr Mahathir has no power to decide who can be the prime minister of Malaysia.
“He also has no power to decide who the deputy prime minister should be, because there is no provision even in our Constitution for the position of deputy prime minister, let alone two, one of whom is to be his son Mukhriz (Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir),” she said in a statement in response to Dr Mahathir’s latest proposal for Sabahan MP Shafie Apdal to be the ninth prime minister.
Soo said if Dr Mahathir wishes to throw the cat amongst the pigeons with his call for Shafie to be the next prime minister, it was not likely to make any splash.
“The people are now accustomed to his eccentricities in his bid to hold the seat of power as prime minister. After all it was Dr Mahathir, and him alone who betrayed the people by resigning as prime minister in February, paving the way for the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) regime,” she said.
She said what was even more bewildering is that when the country was facing the Covid-19 pandemic and economic uncertainties, Dr Mahathir’s only obsession was the prime minister’s post, and playing up political parties against each other.
“The people are suffering, yet Mahathir is ‘playing the fiddle while Rome burns. After all, Dr Mahathir will still have his chance to be prime minister again at the next General Election (GE) in two years’ time, or sooner if a snap election is called,” she said.
Soo said she was shocked at the readiness of Democratic Action Party (DAP) to dance with Dr Mahathir to the hilt in his latest political manoeuvre.
“Dr Mahathir exposes the true colours of DAP who dance to his tune for political expediency and power at all costs even to the extent of throwing their ally — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) — under the bus.
“By being accomplice to this quirky proposal, it shows the political bankruptcy of DAP politics. Having tasted power, they are hungry for more, and are willing to forsake their political allies and the people in their power games,” she said.
Soo said if there was any merit to the proposal, she would support the idea if it meant Shafie would give a one-way ticket to relocate one million Sabahan illegal immigrants (Pati) to Kedah and Penang, get Labuan to be returned to Sabah, relocate the capital of Malaysia to Lahad Datu, and restore all Sarawak and Sabah rights over their oil and gas.
