KUALA LUMPUR: DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang underlined six tests that must be faced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in determining the continuity of the unity government.
He said the six tests will also determine if the unity government led by Anwar will be able to last for up to five years or otherwise.
Apart from the first test being the selection of the Dewan Rakyat speaker come Dec 19, he said the motion of no confidence towards Anwar as Prime Minister in the Dewan Rakyat a day after that will also determine the shelf life of his leadership.
Apart from this, the Umno leadership which could see some changes perhaps when party elections take place during the Umno General Assembly which is scheduled to take place from Jan 11 to 14, will also impact Barisan Nasional's (BN) support for Anwar's leadership.
"Thereafter will be the Opening of Parliament, underlining of government policies for the coming year and approval of Budget 2023," he said in a statement released today.
Lim also said that if at all the unity government under Anwar's stewardship was able to last and successfully pass the five tests, then the next challenge would be the state elections for the states of Selangor, Pulau Pinang, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.
"Perikatan Nasional (PN) will go all out to record victory in these states in order to unseat Anwar's Unity Government.
"In fact, the Negri Sembilan state PN Chief has already stated that the Negri Sembilan PN are targetting to win at least 19 out of the 36 state legislative assembly seats in order to form the next state government," he said.
Lim explained that Pakatan Harapan (PH) cannot afford to take the threat posed by PN too lightly be it in Negri Sembilan or the other states.
"I look forward to the announcement by PH Secretary-General Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail for PH to organise a tour beginning early next year as preparations to face the state elections in the aforementioned states that did not dissolve their respective state legislative assemblies during the General Election (GE15).
"Saifuddin, who is also Home Minister, said that it is a very important responsibility to convince voters in the states to continue to support Anwar's unity government that was only just formed after GE15," said Lim.
Therefore Lim reiterated that PH needs to come up or devise a programme to ensure that the coalition does not lose seats to PN, as it should register a much better performance in the states for the state elections compared to the results registered during GE15.