Pakatan govt fell due to internal power struggle, not Barisan, Zahid tells Dr M

KUALA LUMPUR: The Pakatan Harapan government's downfall after merely 22 months was caused by an internal power struggle, not Barisan Nasional, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (pic).

The Umno president said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's claim that it was caused by Barisan seizing power was incorrect.

"He (Dr Mahathir) has forgotten that the downfall of Pakatan after he resigned as prime minister was due to the power struggle that occurred in Pakatan.

"The internal struggle in Pakatan was no secret.

"Dr Mahathir was urged by his allies to fulfil his promise to hand over the position of prime minister to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after a period of two years.

"Dr Mahathir instead resigned and proposed the formation of a new government according to his wishes.

"His proposal was rejected by many parties as it felt like mixing dictatorship and autocracy," he said on Facebook on Tuesday (Oct 4).

Ahmad Zahid said Dr Mahathir should be grateful because Barisan saved the country which was in disarray due to his and Pakatan's political gambit.

"Him (Dr Mahathir) accusing Barisan of seizing power with the help of defectors is untrue.

"When he was with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia he was happy to welcome MPs who had defected to his party from Umno," he said.

Ahmad Zahid said Dr Mahathir claiming that Umno does not care for the people and only wants to be in power has been proven otherwise.

"Umno freely supported the Barsatu president to be the country’s eighth prime minister without conditions.

"The decision was made solely for the sake of the continuity of the government administration at that time which was important for the people and the country.

"Individuals who are known to repeatedly reflect their desires to be prime minister are the Gerakan Tanah Air chairman, Pakatan chairman and Perikatan Nasional chairman," he said referring to Dr Mahathir, Anwar and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

On Dr Mahathir's claims that many may be harmed if the general election was held now due to the fear of floods, Ahmad Zahid said no one could accurately predict whether a major flood would occur.

"We should not underestimate the authority of our security forces. Even the Malaysian Meteorological Department explained that the average rainfall that is predicted to occur does not necessarily cause major floods.

"It is important that GE15 is held now to provide a stable and strong government to safeguard the welfare of the people," he said.