“The only way Muhyiddin can ever come out of this a winner is if he were to list their functions in the mainstream media, allowing the general public to judge for themselves if indeed the three have roles independent of one another”
THE THIRD FORCE
Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) president, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, gallantly defended Pakatan Harapan (Harapan) yesterday following widespread criticism that the pact’s newly formed Presidential Council was smothered in ambiguity.
In denying claims that the coalition’s top three roles were overlapping, Muhyiddin insisted that the functions of each office bearer was well defined in the pact’s draft constitution, stopping short only of listing those functions out to the media.
“The decision (to appoint these leaders) was made by consensus among all Pakatan parties, so there is no confusion. All appointees have their respective functions and responsibilities.
“Although there are different positions, there is a collective responsibility and everyone works as a team,” he said.
But not everyone shared his enthusiasm.
On Firday, Salleh Said Keruak pointed out that despite naming three of its highest office bearers, Harapan failed to identify who among the three wielded executive power and had the final say.
In a blog posting, the Communications and Multimedia Minister also noted the conspicuous absence of DAP leaders in the top three posts, adding that the line-up was to allow the DAP to mask its domineering position by giving the pact a Malay facade.
The suggestion courted the ire of DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, who, in typical fashion, trained his guns at UMNO by accusing the Barisan Nasional component party of staging a propaganda campaign against the DAP.
“DAP is neither side-lined nor do we dominate Pakatan Harapan, which is (a) coalition of political equals based on the operational principle of consensus, unlike Barisan Nasional which is founded on Umno hegemony,” the senior Lim said.
If that is the case, then why hasn’t he responded to The Third Force?
Last Friday, the portal ran an editorial in which I accused the Harapan Presidential Council of being run by a group of dictators with a history of manipulating circumstances to remain in positions of absolute power.
In the case of DAP, it is led by father-son tag team Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng, who manipulated the party’s 2012 and 2013 Central Executive Committee (CEC) election and re-election just to extend the latter’s tenure, which, under normal circumstances, would have expired.
As for Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah, she and her husband, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim, conspired with Rafizi Ramli, Dato’ Seri Azmin Ali, Saifuddin Nasution and Sivarasa Rasiah in a failed coup attempt to bring the state of Selangor under Anwar’s absolute control in 2014.
Mahathir, on the other hand, got UMNO deregistered in 1998 through a concatenation of events that saw the establishment of UMNO baru and his critics being flushed from the party.
With Anwar, Wan Azizah and Mahathir each wielding executive positions in Harapan, can Muhyiddin honestly say the three have roles independent of one another and are agreeable to the other being in charge?
The only way Muhyiddin can ever come out of this a winner is if he were to list their functions in the mainstream media, allowing the general public to judge for themselves if indeed the three have roles independent of one another.
What say you, Muhyiddin? Are you man enough to take up the challenge?
