KOTA KINABALU: Former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic) should be blamed for the downfall of the Pakatan Harapan government in 2020, and not Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, says Sabah PKR.
Sabah PKR state leadership council secretary Simsudin Sidek said a recent statement by Warisan accusing the PKR president for Pakatan's downfall due to Anwar's "yearning to become the prime minister" was naive.
Warisan information chief Khairuddin Daud alleged on Monday (Oct 3) that Anwar's ambition had fuelled the internal turmoil that saw the coalition's 22-month-old government come apart at the seams.
"This statement is obviously echoes the statement from Dr Mahathir before.... The public knows the background of our country's politics and history cannot be twisted," said Simsudin.
He said Dr Mahathir was the one who kept delaying and did not keep his promise to hand over the prime minister's post to Anwar.
Simsudin said this delay caused conflict among Pakatan members, which culminated in the Sheraton Move in February 2020.
He personally sees the appointment of Dr Mahathir to lead the election campaigns and him being appointed the seventh Prime Minister as Pakatan's biggest mistake.
He said the deal made amongst Pakatan members prior to GE14 was to appoint Mahathir as interim Prime Minister and he was supposed to hand over the post to Anwar within two years.
"But Mahathir broke his promise and resigned as Prime Minister, causing Pakatan to fall," Simsudin said.
He said the nation needs a total change in leadership for the sake of the people, as opposed to feeding cronies, wives and children of leaders.
