By Peter Sibon
KUCHING, Jan 29: The best way to solve the current impasse as to who should succeed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the next prime minister is for him to dissolve Parliament to pave way for the next general election, according to PRS president Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing.
He stressed that the calling for a snap 15th general election (GE15) is the next option as the current Pakatan Harapan government seemingly is not be able to come up with a consensus as to who would be Dr Mahathir’s successor.
“GE15 is the best solution to solve Dr Mahathir’s political impasse in picking his successor. Let the people of Malaysia decide for Mahathir. If that happens then he will not be blamed of not honouring his words,” Masing opined here today.
Masing who is also Deputy Chief Minister agreed with Santubong MP Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar’s suggestion that a snap general election would be the best way for Dr Mahathir to appoint his successor.
“Hence, I agree with Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi for the prime minister to dissolve Parliament, the sooner the better it is for Malaysia before it slides further into an economic abyss from which we will find it hard to recover.”
Under the pact between PH coalition parties prior to GE14, Dr Mahathir would be prime minister for two years before handing over the baton to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
However, the pact is now seemingly getting murkier by the day since Dr Mahathir was reported as saying recently that he has decided to stay until after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Conference in Kuala Lumpur in November, causing a major rift between Dr Mahathir and Anwar’s supporters in PH.
Speculations are rife that there are other contenders besides Anwar for the prime minister’s post, including PKR deputy president and Economic Planning Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s deputy president and Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir. — DayakDaily
