Dr M meets party leaders for decision on possible new coalition

PETALING JAYA: While meetings of Pakatan Harapan party leaders have finished, a power meeting between Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and top leaders of several parties is being held Sunday (Feb 23) to decide if a new coalition will be the right thing to do.

As Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia and a gathering of MPs from several parties finished their meetings at different locations in Petaling Jaya, sources said Dr Mahathir had asked Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali as well as leaders of Parti Warisan Sabah, Umno, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak to meet him.

"Dr Mahathir has met with all Bersatu leaders to decide whether it is wise for Bersatu to leave the ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition. Meanwhile, the decisions made at the special Bersatu meeting were conveyed to PKR MPs who were at another hotel.

"Now, Dr Mahathir wants to hear from those who said they have the majority of MPs and whether it is a viable thing to do at this time.

"Nothing is concrete until Dr Mahathir is convinced it is viable to break up Pakatan right now," said the source.

As at press time, there is much talk of pending meetings between the Prime Minister and the Palace as well as the defection of the Azmin faction from PKR.

The pending meetings will confirm whether there will be a new coalition in the Government with the opposition PAS, Umno and GPS involved.

Earlier Sunday morning, it was reported that Bersatu leaders and MPs were gathered at their headquarters at Yayasan Selangor.

Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir was seen arriving for the meeting at 9.10am and was later joined by Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Home Minister.

At a hotel just a kilometre away, a dozen ministers and MPs aligned to the Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali faction in PKR, were holed up in a meeting.

Several MPs, including Bersatu MP Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin and PKR's Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, were seen walking into the meeting at the hotel.

Umno also held a supreme council meeting at PWTC at 3pm on Sunday.

These high-level meetings fuelled talk about the possible breaking up of Pakatan, with the formation of a new coalition.

On Friday (Feb 21), Dr Mahathir said the Pakatan presidential council has given him the full discretion when to step down as the Prime Minister.

Dr Mahathir had repeatedly said he would step down after Malaysia hosted the Apec Summit in November.

Prior to the 14th General Election, Pakatan had agreed that Dr Mahathir would be prime minister for two years before passing the baton to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.