Having being jailed twice when Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister, it would not be surprising if Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mohamad Sabu harbours a deep hatred for the former.

Nevertheless, true to the adage ‘there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics’, Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, said this was all in the past.

“I am definitely geram (furious) with Mahathir, I was jailed twice under him,” said Mohamad in his speech at Federal Territories Amanah’s one-year celebrations held in Kuala Lumpur last night.

But the 91-year-old, he pointed out, no longer has powers, and now wants BN to fall.

“Speak the truth in front of a cruel ruler, not in front of a cruel retiree. Mahathir has retired and no longer has powers.”

He also pointed out it was unlikely for Mahathir to become prime minister as he was already 91 years old.

Mohamad however admitted that he does not have a big heart like PKR de-facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

“He’s now in jail, went to court and could shake hands (with Mahathir). If it was me, I would have ‘pang’,” said Mohamad, gesturing as though he would slap someone.

Last night’s event saw some 150 Amanah members and supporters attending the event.

Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub in his speech said since the party was launched a year ago, it has managed to register around 80,000 members.

“And from 222, Amanah has registered 156 parliamentary constituencies.”

All these, he said, were proof of Amanah’s strength, which can be shared with PKR, DAP and new party Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

Amanah, he added, does not want to become like the ‘old party’ (PAS).

“Amanah is Amanah. We want to learn from th

past and we want to move forward.”

PAS, he pointed out, was stronger when it was not alone, citing the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah coalition, which saw the alliance defeating Umno in the 1990 general election by winning the state of Kelantan.

PAS was also victorious in the 2008 general election due to the loose opposition coalition then, added Salahuddin.

“All parties in the country, if you want to be with the opposition, should unite in facing BN in the next general election.

“Any party that does not want to be with the opposition, is sending a clear message to the rakyat that it is with Umno,” he added.

Grand coalition

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang in his speech echoed this, stressing that what was needed now was a grand coalition formed on the basis of principles.

“Pakatan Rakyat then had a common policy framework conceived by Anwar. We need to go back to when there was a common policy framework for a grand coalition.”

Lim believes that a grand coalition without a common policy framework, would not receive the trust of Malaysians.

“We need to go back to the common policy conceived by Anwar,” he stressed.

Pakatan Rakyat was dissolved in June last year after DAP declared it ‘dead’ following PAS passing a motion during its muktamar, to cut off ties with DAP.

The progressive faction in PAS was completely wiped out in the PAS muktamar. This led to the formation of Amanah which consists of mostly former PAS members.

Pakatan Harapan was then formed in September 2015 consisting of PKR, DAP and the newly-formed Amanah.