YOURSAY | ‘Mahathir himself admitted time and again that he was only an interim prime minister.’

Azmin: Those coming in before term ends are the actual backdoor gov't

Wira: Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali, you forgot that you were among those who endorsed that Dr Mahathir Mohamad serves as the interim prime minister until the time PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim was freed and able to take over the premiership.

At that time, you were also critical and suspicious of Mahathir too. Don't make unprincipled comments as if what you had promised before never mattered.

Salvage Malaysia: Obsessed with power? Desperate? My goodness. Pakatan Harapan went out to expressly promising the rakyat that the mighty duo (of Mahathir and Anwar) was working together again, which made most of us tilt to Harapan.

It was so clear that Mahathir will be the interim PM to quickly set things right. Once Anwar was out of jail, received a royal pardon and gets to become an MP, he would take over as PM.

And now Azmin is saying there’s no such thing and the people’s mandate is to let Mahathir stay for five years?

If you don’t know the meaning of betrayal to the rakyat, let us show you our votes come GE15. We really don’t want any more dishonest ministers.

Capo: Azmin, if we were told that Mahathir would be PM for a full term before GE14, BN would still be in power.

You can beat all the drums you want in favour of Mahathir. Do you think Anwar, DAP leader Lim Kit Siang and Amanah leader Mohamad Sabu were born yesterday?

It is said that they have contingency plans in case Mahathir refuses to step down on May 9, 2020, and they have our undivided support.

Speaking Sense: Azmin thinks we are fools. We voted for Harapan with the expectation that there would be a seamless transition in the premiership from Mahathir to Anwar before the next general election.

This is so that real reforms in the social, legal and economic fabric of this country can take place and not for people like Azmin to spin lies about backdoor government and all that.

Perhaps Azmin had planned for a full-term Mahathir government all along, but that was not what we voted for. To claim that now is a betrayal of our votes.

What is also a betrayal of voters is for members of Harapan like Azmin and Mahathir to attend and show support for racial events that seek to deny the rights of some citizens of this country.

PW1: I am not a fan of Azmin, but I must agree with him on this matter. Allow Mahathir to focus on economic reforms and strengthen unity.

Mahathir needs to get the country back on track. Those who want him out soon are not interested in the well-being of Malaysia.

Gerard Lourdesamy: @PW1, Mahathir is more focused on making Bersatu the biggest party in Harapan. Why do you think the Malay Dignity Congress was organised?

To Mahathir's frustration, the remaining 37 Umno members of parliament do not want to jump to Bersatu. They are keeping to their principles to stay in opposition and continue working with PAS until the collapse of the Harapan government or GE15, whichever is earlier.

Mahathir's fear is that Bersatu will be wiped out after he steps down and the future of his son, Mukhriz Mahathir, is in doubt.

An Umno-PAS government will never forgive Mahathir for splitting the Malays, destroying Umno and prosecuting the likes of Najib Abdul Razak, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and other top Umno leaders.

Notanonymous: @Lourdesamy, I disagree with you about the Umno MPs keeping their principles to stay in opposition. They know if they jump ship now they will lose their seats come GE15. This is because most rural Malays won’t support anyone seen working with DAP.

The ones who left probably know they are going to lose one way or another. This is because their seats may be going to PAS.

So it is like Brexit, some deal needs to be made or risk what you say would happen. I wouldn’t count on the principles of those 37 Umno MPs.

Kim Quek: Mahathir himself admitted time and again that he was only an interim prime minister. That means his premiership is temporary, pending someone being ready to take over.

If Mahathir was a gentleman, he would have respected that consensus by promptly making arrangements for Anwar to enter parliament and thereupon, to take over the premiership - as soon as Anwar was given a full royal pardon last year.

Instead of doing that, he has fooled around with the issue and made all kinds of devious political moves for one objective – to thwart Anwar’s succession.

As a result, the nation has been thrown into an increasing crisis of confidence, holding up both foreign and domestic investments and plunging the country into deepening economic malaise.

As for Azmin’s assertion that a cabinet reshuffle is considered a new government through the backdoor, it has only exposed his shocking ignorance of how a parliamentary democracy functions.

For his benefit, a cabinet reshuffle is a common or even routine practice in any democracy. It is never considered a formation of a new government.

As a senior minister and a deputy leader of the largest component party of the ruling coalition, his such lack of rudimentary knowledge of democracy has appalled me beyond words.

A word of advice to the leadership of PKR, DAP and Amanah, it is time to take this power transition issue by the horn before it gets even more unwieldy.

Anonymous_2670989: Azmin, I understand your lack of knowledge on the parliamentary system when you said: "Mahathir should be allowed to remain as prime minister until the end of the term as it is the people's mandate."

Please note that mandate was given to Harapan (as collectively having the majority in Parliament) and not to Mahathir.

I think the writing on the wall is very clear for Harapan on what it should do next.

Fair Play: Azmin, lest you have already forgotten, the decision to nominate Mahathir as the candidate for the seventh PM was taken by the collective decision of all the respective presidents of PKR, DAP, Bersatu, Amanah and Warisan for a period of two years. Mahathir himself accepted that.

Mahathir’s time is up, but now that he has tasted power again, he is not about to give up. That’s why people with vested-interest like you and those in Bersatu seek to change the narrative.

But one point is clear, Mahathir does not have the numbers to support him to stay for the full-term. Period. Otherwise, people like you would not be here making noises like an empty tin can.

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