DAP HAS brushed off any possibilities of working with Bersatu and PAS with its chairman Lim Guan Eng saying that he does not trust the two parties’ leaders.
According to Lim, he did not want to meet Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to discuss any form of cooperation as Muhyiddin was touted one of the masterminds behind the Sheraton Move, the political coup that had led to the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government in February 2020.
“I won’t agree even if he wants to meet. We had been stabbed in the back and we shouldn’t be fooled again,” Lim told Malay daily Utusan Malaysia in an exclusive interview at the DAP headquarters.
“It’s fine if we were to meet and chat in Parliament but I won’t agree if we discuss the issue of working together. I won’t accept it – the door is closed.”
To recap, the Pakatan government that came to power in 2018 following their victory in the 14th general election (GE14) had collapsed after losing its majority in Parliament with the exit of 26 Bersatu MPs and 11 others from PKR following Sheraton Move.
Lim went on to claim that when Muhyiddin was home minister during the Pakatan administration, he had “sabotaged” DAP by claiming that its members were linked to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) which the latter had listed as a terrorist organisation.
DAP assemblymen P. Gunasekaran and G. Saminathan were among the 12 individuals who were charged in October 2019 over alleged links to the Sri Lankan militant group. The case against them were however dropped by then-attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas in February 2020.
“We were betrayed from the inside of the deep state. Why did Muhyiddin say that our people were linked to LTTE when the group did not exist then?” Lim questioned.
Meanwhile, the Bagan MP also said that DAP does not trust Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, as the PAS president is evasive and does not keep his word.
“For example, the then-Pakatan government had reduced the frequency of special lottery draws from 22 to eight but the decision was reversed in 2021. There is a high trust deficit in play here, which makes it difficult to work with PAS,” Lim added.
Earlier this month, Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that he has had meetings with Muhyiddin although the topic of political cooperation or support for the Pagoh MP to become prime minister again had never cropped up.
On April 10, Utusan Malaysia also reported PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail as saying that Pakatan has never closed its door to discussions on cooperating with Bersatu ahead of GE15.
Saifuddin also said that political understanding between parties can be made in various forms so as to avoid clashes in several state elections like in Melaka and Johor.
Saifuddin’s remarks followed Muhyiddin’s admission to a discussion with Pejuang president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on a potential collaboration for the next general election. – April 18, 2022
