PUTRAJAYA: Trouble may be brewing within Pakatan Harapan, with its chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad admitting that the pact is having “a little problem” with PKR.
Dr Mahathir said this when responding to a question at a townhall session at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here, on why PKR is sending mixed messages in terms of their plans in teaming up with Pas.
The Pakatan Harapan presidential council last Tuesday announced that it would not have any cooperation with Pas ahead of the 14th General Election (GE14).
Yet recently, jailed opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in his statement, urged PKR to keep its doors open to Pas.
Dr Mahathir said the opposition pact is “having a little problem with PKR” as Anwar has openly said they should continue to speak with Pas.
“We believe, as a group, we decided to have no more dealings with Pas.
“We have decided as a group to have no more dealings with Pas, but the statement by Anwar was that he would try and talk to old friends. We will put a stop to that.”
Dr Mahathir explained that if Pas joined Pakatan Harapan, it would also cause trouble as Pas would demand to contest in each seat they had contested before.
“If we accept Pas in the group, there will be five parties and they will insist on contesting all of their seats before, not just the ones they have won.
"Then there will be no more seats left for others.”
Recently, PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali was involved in a spat with party vice-president Rafizi Ramli over the issue. Azmin had insisted on having cooperation with Pas in order to avoid three-cornered fights in GE14, while Rafizi disagreed.
Rafizi had said that Azmin's move to mend ties with Pas should be done collectively through a national congress, in accordance with the party's constitution.
He had claimed that the differences over whether to cooperate with Pas to maintain control of Selangor had split the party and had caused confusion among grassroots members.