With the anti-Anwar Ibrahim social media warriors beefing up the campaign against the Port Dickson by-election, an Umno warlord says he dreamt of a new Pakatan that will save Malaysia.
Umno vice-president Mohamed Khaled Nordin has suggested the possibility of forming a new coalition comprising BN, PAS and PKR in Peninsular Malaysia.
He is simply relaying what the anti-Anwar groupings on social networks in Malaysia are professing: That is Anwar is in collusion with Umno and the Islamist PAS.
The theory is that Anwar will break away from the current Pakatan Harapan coalition if he is not given the PM post.
But he needs a win at Port Dickson to earn the right to become the next PM. This is where the Umno thinks they could be of help to Anwar in the wake of a split in the Pakatan and the PKR on the Port Dickson by-elections.
The former Johor Menteri Besar said there is the possibility that Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) and Gabungan Bersatu Sabah (GBS) would join Anwar in such a coalition.
“What is certain, Umno, PAS, MIC, MCA, GPS and GBS have the right and strong formula to form a political coalition that can pose a serious challenge to Pakatan Harapan,” he said in a statement.
He added that it is not impossible for all these parties to join forces with PKR (Anwar’s party) to form a ‘Pakatan Malaysia’, and no longer Pakatan Harapan.
He also chided Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s party as a small party.
In a response to Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin’s dismissal of Umno’s future prospects, who said that the party had been destroyed, Khaled said Umno is still a powerful lot but Bersatu is a minor party.
The Umno leader pointed out that despite being in a weakened state, its 51 seats means that it is still the largest single party represented in Parliament.
He said that Bersatu’s 13 seats make it the second smallest party in the four-member Harapan coalition.
Anwar did not respond to the statement from the Umno warlord.
The Port Dickson by-elections are expected to be hotly contested with the PAS and Umno wooing the Malays with promises of a place in heaven if they vote against Anwar.
The Pakatan Harapan is divided in the middle on the by-election with people having deep pockets within the coalition bidding for a defeat of Anwar Ibrahim.