Mahathir’s call for a mega-Malay party puts leadership transition in tatters

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is supposed to announce a timeline for the leadership transition plans within the Pakatan Harapan party, but instead called for the formation of a mega-Malay party.

The mega-Malay party will be Bersatu, Dr Mahathir’s party, which is ready to accept membership from all existing Malay parties to join the Pakatan Harapan coalition component.

Bersatu is the third largest party in the Pakatan coalition with 26 MP’s. Most of the MP’s are former UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) loyalists who jumped ship after the General Elections last year.

Dr Mahathir last week made a call for all Malay parties to dissolve and join Bersatu. This would lead to the creation of a mega-Malay party that will be the biggest political force in the country.

However, the call by Dr Mahathir goes against all odds.

A recent meeting held to discuss Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s succession plans with Democratic Action Party (DAP) leader Lim Kit Siang has not given the expected results.

That is Dr Mahathir announcing his plans to hand over power to Anwar Ibrahim the Parti Keadilan Rakyat leader. But it did not happen.

But the 45 minute meeting between Kit Siang and Mahathir has delivered another blow to Pakatan.

The meeting was held during the month of Ramadan which fell in May this year. Lim Kit Siang lead a team of DAP leaders to meet Dr Mahathir at his home and requested he announced the transition schedule.

The blog Another Brick In The Wall says the schedule for power transition has been set but not announced.

“There was a meeting held with Mahathir involving deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Aizah, Lim Kit Siang, Minister of Defence Mohamad Sabu and Minister of Home Affairs Muhyiddin to discuss and finalise the matter,” wrote the blog.

Anwar had confirmed there were meetings between the Pakatan leaders and Dr Mahathir to discuss the transition of power, but said no timeline was set.

With Mahathir’s call for the formation of the mega-Malay party, it is clear there are widening rifts within the ruling coalition.