No ‘May 2020’ deadline for PM to step down, says Saifuddin Abdullah

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — Pakatan Harapan (PH) chief secretary Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah today reiterated that there is no “May 2020” deadline for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to step down as prime minister.

Saifuddin said since the agreement was made by the PH presidential council on January 6 last year, there has been no dispute raised.

“Within the PH Presidential Council, there are no disputes over the agreement made on January 6, 2018 that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be the eighth prime minister after Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“However, it did not specify any transition date. Therefore, the transition date of May 2020 was not raised at all,” he said in a statement.

He added that anyone with further questions about the power transfer should refer to Dr Mahathir’s promise, in which he stated that he will hand over prime ministerial duties to Anwar, who is PKR president, after the Apec 2020 Summit.

“Any questions on the power transfer should be directed to the PH presidential council to be discussed and determined,” he said.

Saifuddin said the focus is currently on fulfilling the coalition’s manifesto which was brought forth before GE14 in 2018.

“Together we move into the new era of hope in the year 2020 in one direction leading to the New Malaysia agenda.

“Over the past 20 months, various efforts have been mobilised to fulfil the Buku Harapan, PH’s manifesto that we released before the general election,” he said.

Saifuddin, who is also the foreign minister, said an implementation committee chaired by DAP’s Liew Chin Tong has also been established to keep track of the manifesto promises made and to fulfil them.

By May 10 this year, Dr Mahathir would have completed his second year as the country’s prime minister,

PKR MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad earlier today urged the PH coalition to stick to a clear commitment on the power transition process, which he claimed was fixed for May 2020.

Nik Nazmi’s call makes him the latest to demand a power transition timeline following the agreement by PH Presidential Council.

However, several others have called for Dr Mahathir to serve out his full term as prime minister.

They include PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin and PPBM vice-president Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman.