Muhyiddin: Pakatan's early announcements a ruse
The slew of candidacy announcements by Pakatan Rakyat component parties is a sign of internal strife, said BN deputy chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin.
The slew of candidacy announcements by Pakatan Rakyat component parties is a sign of internal strife, said BN deputy chairperson Muhyiddin Yassin.
He added that the move was not designed to allow voters to get to know their candidates earlier, but to outmanoeuvre each party and claim their right to contest in a particular seat.
Citing the Alor Setar parliament seat as an example, Muhyiddin ( right ) said PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim had announced that a PKR candidate will be fielded, drawing the DAP's ire.
"This is not a question of them wanting to inform the voters of the identity of the candidate earlier," said Muhyiddin.
Muhyiddin stressed that there is no need for an early announcement of candidates because this will become public knowledge in time.
He opined that Pakatan components are not united and are bent on furthering their interest, leading to overlapping claims over many seats.
"There is no overlapping in BN, we have our own seat distribution formula. We have an understanding," he said, when met at a function in Gombak, Selangor.
Kit Siang thinks he is a 'sifu'
On DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, who is heading Johor DAP's campaign, Muhyiddin said the former's presence in Johor had led to the collapse of the party's three-membered state committee to select candidates.
"(Lim) thinks he is a veteran. Yes, he is old. He thinks he is the sifu (master) so others have to make way," he said.
He claimed this showed that DAP was the most "undemocratic party", and it is disunited.
Asked for comment on the possibility of caretaker Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman ( left ) being fielded in Gelang Patah to take on the DAP supremo, Muhyiddin replied that this will be decided soon.
When queried about the difference of opinion among PKR leaders on whether their president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail should contest, Muhyiddin replied with a joke.
"I don't know. They (Anwar Ibrahim and Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) live in the same house, but statements are not consistant," he said.
Meanwhile, when asked about blogger Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris' intention to contest in Permatang Pauh to take on Anwar, Muhyiddin noted that it was an interesting development, and opined that the blogger had the right to do so.
Wan Muhammad Azri is better known by his penname, Papagomo.
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