KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s disclosure that she was first offered the post of the prime minister clarifies the state of Malaysia’s political landscape, said Datuk A. Kadir Jasin.
The advisor to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said while the offer was common knowledge among political circles, Dr Wan Azizah’s revelation has made the matter public information.
Kadir acknowledged that, by convention, the head of the largest party should become the PM, but noted that Pakatan Harapan was clear that its choice was Dr Mahathir and even stated this plainly in its manifesto.
“So the people and the whole world knew that the candidate to be prime minister was Dr Mahathir and not anybody else,” he wrote on his personal blog yesterday.
He said the decision to offer the post first to Dr Wan Azizah was telling and should reveal to voters what other sections of the country felt about their decision to choose PH to be the government of the day.
Kadir also noted that prior to the general election, Kelantan chose to revoke titles awarded to Dr Mahathir for unspecified reasons, which the latter then surrendered.
Kadir said the revocation of the state’s highest honour was viewed as a rejection of Dr Mahathir by the royal house, adding that it was common knowledge that some among the royalty had overtly or covertly “campaigned” against Dr Mahathir’s political comeback.
He then expressed his support for Dr Wan Azizah in revealing and confirming the events on May 9 and 10 that he said had left the people guessing.
“Each word uttered and body language shown in that tense moment must be officially recorded so it can guide the government of the day and instruct the generations to come.
“On that night, Malaysians altered history and nobody at all could stop them. Thank God that was what happened,” he said.
Dr Wan Azizah told media during her visit to Indonesia that she had been offered the post of the prime minister ahead of Dr Mahathir after the general election.
Activist Hishamuddin Rais previously alleged of the political intrigues that went on away from public eyes in the wake of the general election, including this episode.
