KOTA KINABALU: Rumours have surfaced regarding Muhyiddin’s thoughts on his role in Perikatan Nasional (PN) and his relationship with the PAS leadership following Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s recent appointment as the advisor to the four states.
Former Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said it is important to know how Muhyiddin would respond if Tun Mahathir were selected as the candidate for PN in the upcoming Kemaman by-election.
“If that happens, would Muhyiddin feel his position as Chairman of PN would be greatly undermined by the presence of Tun Mahathir in Parliament?” he said in his latest Facebook posting.
According to Salleh, although Muhyiddin is the chairman of the PN, PAS leaders seem to have placed their utmost confidence in Tun Mahathir, not Muhyiddin, to lead them to Putrajaya.
“Hence, it would be like having two tigers on one mountain, and everybody would put their money on the old tiger,” he added.
Therefore, the former Sabah Chief Minister said the real question is whether Muhyiddin would support or sabotage if Tun Mahathir’s name is proposed to be the PN’s candidate for the parliamentary election in Kemaman.
So far, Tun Mahathir has not openly rejected any suggestion of that sort,” he said.
The Election Commission (EC) has fixed December 2 as the polling day for the by-election, while nominations and early voting are set for November 18 and 28, respectively.
The by-election was called following the decision of the Terengganu Election Court on September 26 to annul the victory of Pas candidate Che Alias Hamid in the 15th General Election (GE15).