KUALA LUMPUR: The opposition coalition will continue to bicker and disagree on its candidate for prime minister if it wins the upcoming 14th General Election (GE14).
A founding member of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), Kamarulazaman Habibur Rahman, said the opposition did not have a qualified candidate and that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself had never been proposed when the party was newly-minted.
Instead, he said, the opposition had to “re-use” Dr Mahathir to break up Malay support especially in Umno but it would be impossible to agree to him leading the government once again.
"If the opposition is victorious, how many seats will be won by PPBM? I think only 15 seats. How then can a party with only 15 seats present a candidate for prime minister.
"While they are indeed contesting more than 50 seats, but it will not be easy just to win 15 seats, not to mention that DAP can win 35 seats," he said when met here yesterday.
Kamarulazaman said the people should reflect and rethink on whether the country should gamble by choosing a 93-year-old as prime minister just because of his past achievements.
Another PPBM founding member, Anina Saadudin, said the candidate for prime minister by the opposition hardly reflects the struggle for a better future.
She said the opposition should instead field fresh faces with clear vision and goals, not Dr Mahathir who retired from the government 15 years ago.
"If the opposition pact really wants to bring change, the candidate for prime minister must be a fresh face. But as it is now, nothing is going to change.
"The people are being taken for a ride just so that the opposition can win the election," she said.
Anina, who is also former PPBM women's wing chief, is also puzzled by the attitude of opposition leaders especially PKR top brass in supporting an individual who had jailed the party's head, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"The opposition candidate for prime minister's is the one responsible for imprisoning the husband of the opposition's deputy prime minister candidate," she said.
She opines that the confusion will turn away the people, especially young voters who are so sick and tired of the politicking to the point that they do not bother to register as voters.
Translated from Berita Harian