Come clean on taking power with kleptocrats, Bersatu MPs challenge PH

Three Bersatu MPs from Sabah and Sarawak have urged Pakatan Harapan (PH) to publicly declare that they will not take federal power with the support of kleptocrats, following news that a group of MPs aligned with Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi have agreed to back Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister should the present government collapse.

Saratok MP Ali Biju, Puncak Borneo MP Willie Mongin and Ranau MP Jonathan Yasin said opposition to kleptocrats had been PH’s rallying cry at the 14th general election which saw the overthrow of the Barisan Nasional government.

“If PH plans to take power with kleptocrats’ support, what is the price demanded by the kleptocrats? Surely the public is entitled to know this,” they said in a statement.

“After making opposition to kleptocrats their rallying cry in GE14, is this what DAP, PKR, Amanah have come to? Take power at all costs, with whichever unsavoury political bedfellow is available?”

MalaysiaNow earlier reported that some 15 MPs aligned with Zahid, including those facing multiple corruption charges, would be backing Anwar to be appointed as prime minister if the Perikatan Nasional administration collapses.

This came after negotiations by PH with other opposition blocs and individual parties failed to gain their support for Anwar.

A senior PKR office bearer told MalaysiaNow that PH leaders believed such an opportunity would never come again, despite strong reservations from some DAP MPs.

The Bersatu MPs said DAP had indicated its support for Anwar as candidate for prime minister.

“Despite conceding the fact that Anwar doesn’t have the numbers and will certainly depend on the support of the kleptocrats and court cluster, they continue to express their support for his candidacy,” they said.

“Muhyiddin has promised the people on live telecast that he will not let the kleptocrats take power in our beloved Malaysia. Can DAP or PH give the people the same assurance that they will not take power or form government with the support of kleptocrats?”

Muhyiddin in his live address yesterday had offered a cross-party consensus ahead of the confidence vote in Parliament to determine his support among MPs.

He listed seven items in his proposal to avoid a collapse of the government which he said risked a power vacuum that could be filled by “kleptocrats” while disrupting efforts to battle the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Bersatu MPs praised Muhyiddin for his move, saying he had refused to give in to kleptocrats, interfere in court cases or sell the country’s future “to the highest bidder” despite his political career being on the line.

“Muhyiddin has sworn not to allow kleptocrats back to power – why is PH still refusing to make the same promise?

“We, the three Bersatu MPs from Borneo, challenge PH to publicly declare that they will not take power or form government with the support of kleptocrats. If they fail to do so within the next 24 hours, then all the principles and reforms they like to talk about are just a charade and political fodder for their ambitions.”