Report: DAP’s Anthony Loke claims Pakatan has safeguards to ensure Dr Mahathir steps down as PM after six months

KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 — DAP’s organising secretary Anthony Loke claimed that mechanisms have been put in place to ensure Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigns as the prime minister after six months, should Pakatan Harapan regain control of Putrajaya.

According to Malaysiakini, Loke conceded that there was doubt about this arrangement but went on to claim that the coalition’s parties would be able to ensure Dr Mahathir followed through this time.

“Of course, people can question if he will keep his promise. Our answer to that is six months down the road, there are mechanisms to make that happen. PKR has 38 MPs. Without them, Mahathir cannot continue to govern.

“Each party will be able to bring down the government by itself if they pull out. If the promise is not kept (by Mahathir), PKR has the option to force an election by that time,” he was quoted as saying.

He added that PH was obliged to include its allies such as Dr Mahathir in the event it could form the government as this was the voters’ decision in the 14th general election.

Loke said DAP preferred to concentrate on fixing past mistakes instead of pointing fingers following the collapse of the PH government.

“If we play the blame game, one side will blame Mahathir, his side will blame another. There will be no end to that.

“I am not saying Mahathir didn’t make any mistakes. We have told him that he resigned without consulting anybody and that caused the collapse of the (Harapan) government,” he added.

Loke also confirmed that Dr Mahathir requested to be the prime minister for six months, before handing over the position to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“As far as DAP is concerned, we don’t look at Anwar and Mahathir as a zero-sum game. They must work together. We need the numbers to unseat Perikatan Nasional. So both leaders must work together,” he said further in the Malaysiakini report.

Loke also denied that Dr Mahathir tried to position his son, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, in the Pakatan Plus negotiations.

“To be fair to him (Dr Mahathir), he has never taken his son’s political future as a consideration (in the discussions). He never said his son must be given positions,” Loke was quoted saying.

Loke said that PH’s discussions focused on two combinations — Anwar and Mukhriz and Dr Mahathir and Anwar — adding that Warisan president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal was never in the running.

Malaysiakini yesterday reported that Warisan had objected to the Anwar and Mukhriz combination.

In the last week or so, PH and its allies have seemingly been rejuvenated with hope that it may have turned the tide in garnering the majority in the Parliament after the Perikatan Nasional (PN) took over Putrajaya in March.

However, several sources who wished to remain unnamed have indicated that the pact has been deadlocked for days on making any counter-move, due to the inability so far to agree on who to lead this new pact called Pakatan Plus ― which includes Dr Mahathir’s faction in Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), and Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan).

PH was also originally scheduled to announce its prime minister candidate on its self-imposed deadline two days ago, but its chief secretary Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said in a statement on Tuesday evening that discussions were still ongoing.