AMANAH president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said the country is unprepared to face another political crisis like the Sheraton Move, which saw the collapse of the first Pakatan Harapan (PH) government in 2020.
As such, Mohamad, who is fondly known as Mat Sabu, said those who are eager to change the government of the day should wait until the next general election.
“Governments are meant to be changed via elections. [Those wanting to change the government] can campaign now, and if they can take over in the next general election, there’s no problem,” he was reported as saying at the Amanah Convention in Bachok, Kelantan on Friday (Dec 8).
The Kota Raja MP said this in response to numerous remarks by PAS leaders about how the Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim-led unity government needs to be toppled.
“To me, the Sheraton Move was a disaster in the country’s politics. When the government changed and [Tan Sri] Muhyidin Yassin became the prime minister, he was soon replaced by [Datuk Seri] Ismail Sabri Yaakob,” he pointed out.
“And then, there were attempts to change Ismail Sabri with someone else.”
Mohamad, who is also the Agriculture and Food Security Minister, also noted that certain quarters – whom he refused to identify – had met with him (and other then opposition leaders) to discuss the matter.
“We didn’t want the government to change, and we signed an MOU (memorandum of understanding) that the Ismail Sabri administration will last until the (15th) general election,” he stressed.
The infamous Sheraton Move saw the collapse of the PH government just 22 months after the coalition won the 14th general election to establish a new administration with the support of UMNO, PAS, and GPS.
The incident saw a mass exodus of PH MPs, who left to join Bersatu, including then-Gombak MP Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and then-Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, both of whom were senior PKR leaders at the time.
The PH government was then replaced by Muhyiddin’s government which had only lasted 17 months following the withdrawal of support of several UMNO lawmakers. This had later led to the Pagoh MP’s resignation; he was then replaced by Ismail Sabri. – Dec 8, 2023
Main pic credit: Utusan Malaysia
