LETTER | I read from Malaysiakini that the restoration of the duly-elected Pakatan Harapan government is presently stymied by the ever oscillating choice of who should be the prime minister candidate. This episode is yet a replay of the impasse as to who shall lead Pakatan Harapan prior to last GE when Anwar Ibrahim refused to allow Dr Mahathir Mohamad to lead.

Today, once again, the rakyat is witnessing Anwar's refusal, yet again, to concede the post of prime minister to Mahathir, even for half-a-year, till the end of this year.

While Anwar and PKR leaders can legitimately point fingers at Mahathir for resigning impulsively and causing the collapse of the Harapan government, Anwar should also, conversely, look at himself in the mirror and take some blame for his poor leadership of PKR which culminated in the exodus of a sizeable 12 PKR MPs to Perikatan Nasional. It is patently obvious that the main reason for the exodus of the 12 was to deliberately derail Anwar's ascent to the top job as prime minister.

Anwar ought to seriously examine his own conscience and figure out why a sizeable chunk of his own party MPs did not relish the idea of him being the next PM.

On the one hand, if Anwar and PKR leaders blame Mahathir for the collapse of Harapan, Anwar should also, in the same breath, bear similar responsibility for the unsavoury debacle. In short, one can fairly conclude that both Anwar and Mahathir were blameworthy, equally, for the collapse of the Harapan government.

From what I read in the news, Mahathir has requested that he continues the premiership just till the end of this year to conclude some unfinished business. I believe that only Mahathir can persuade and galvanise the support of Bersatu and East Malaysian MPs in PN to turn their support to Harapan which is the essential prerequisite for the resurrection of the Harapan government. Why is it then, that Anwar is unable to concede to this simple request and give this 95-year-old man the last opportunity to restore the Harapan government?

As a Harapan supporter, I also can't fathom why Anwar went to meet PN leaders like Muhyiddin Yassin and Hamzah Zainuddin who were the key plotters who caused the downfall of Harapan. Where does the loyalty of Anwar Ibrahim lie? Is he attempting to strike a deal with PN to take his PKR party to be a PN component?

Come on, Anwar Ibrahim, please stop playing sly politics. Show us you are still loyal to Harapan. The rakyat is tired of your political pussyfooting in unduly delaying the resumption of power of the Harapan government . If you are unable to get enough MPs to return to Harapan to go back to Putrajaya, then you should concede the prime minister’s position to Mahathir for some time and then you can take over as PM.

The longer you delay the regrouping of Harapan, the more you will open your party MPs to pinching by PN which will entice your party elected representatives with goodies and ultimately, PKR will be the biggest loser.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.