The question on who will be picked as Pakatan Harapan's candidate for prime minister should it win the next general election remains a contentious issue, with no real clear answer given at a forum last night.

The opposition coalition has yet to concretely announce its prime minister candidate, often implying that it would be Harapan's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, despite him still serving his jail sentence for his Sodomy II conviction.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is now the Harapan chairperson, has said that the coalition would not appoint any interim prime minister, a statement that only raised more questions about Harapan's prime minister candidate.

During the forum titled “Mahathir: Agent of Change or Agent of Destruction?” held in Kuala Lumpur last night, Parti Amanah Negara chief Mohamad Sabu and social activist Hishamuddin Rais, who were arguing in favour of Mahathir, appeared to evade this question.

“We haven't chosen a prime minister candidate yet. It could be Hishamuddin,” Mohamad Sabu (photo) quipped when the issue was brought up during the forum.

Hishamuddin likened the debate on the prime minister candidate to purchasing a buffalo.

“Honestly, I say, Pakatan Harapan will not win the election, so there is no need to discuss who will become the prime minister.

“You haven't even bought the cow, but you want to argue about where to put it. No, buy the buffalo first,” Hishamuddin said.

However, during the question-and-answer session later, a member from the audience pointed out that even when purchasing a buffalo, one would need to know what sort of buffalo one was buying.

“Before we buy something, we have to look at what we buy, but we don't know who Harapan's prime minister candidate is.

“Mahathir is a dictator from back then until now. Does Harapan need a dictator to get everyone to stick together?” the audience member asked.

Mohamad Sabu, who is popularly referred to as Mat Sabu, shot back, saying that Mahathir was not the one controlling Harapan.

“Right now, we are the ones dictating to Mahathir. First (on our agenda) is to have Anwar released.

“Whether he is acting or not, he (Mahathir) agreed.

“Mahathir does not dictate to us. That is why our meetings take two to three hours, because we discuss everything. If he dictated to us, the meetings would be over in 15 minutes,” Mat Sabu said.

However, activist Haris Ibrahim (photo) questioned why Mahathir needed to be put in the top leadership position in the Harapan line-up.

If the former prime minister, who has been criticised for his leanings towards dictator-style leadership during his tenure was sincere about repenting, Haris said he would not mind working with him.

“Let's work with anyone who wants to save the country, including Mahathir, but do not put him in a position where he can become prime minister again,” Haris thundered.

“If we are going to stick our necks out, I think we have a right to know whether this man is going to be our next prime minister if we win the election.”

Concerns over deep state

Another issue brought up during the forum were concerns over deep state, which refers to parts of the administration that does not respond to the civilian political leadership, such as the armed forces and branches of the government bureaucracy.

Hishamuddin pointed out that in the 2013 general election, the opposition had managed to gain 52 percent of the popular vote, yet it did not win enough seats in Parliament to take charge of the government.

“PSM, you are not fighting with Umno, you are fighting with the deep state,” he said, in response to several PSM members among the audience who lambasted Mahathir's role in Harapan.

Mahathir, Hishamuddin (photo) said, has enough influence to sway the deep state.

“Do not forget that it was the Selangor sultan who approved Azmin Ali as the state menteri besar in the end, regardless of other factors,” he said.

On a separate issue, Haris claimed that if Harapan were to capture Putrajaya, the coalition would morph into another BN.

BN component parties would be jumping hopping onto the sinking ship, he mused, and trying to join Harapan, at which point they would likely start emulating BN political practices, especially with Mahathir at its helm.

Haris described Mahathir as both a destroyer and an agent of change, pointing to the time the 92-year-old formed Umno Baru (New Umno) after he narrowly won the presidency of Umno in 1987.

“Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) is Umno Terbaru (Newest Umno). He (Mahathir) killed the old Umno, and then he brought change by creating Umno Baru, which was in line with his own particular interest,” Haris said.

Now, Mahathir has done the same thing by forming the Umno splinter party Bersatu, he said.

While Haris was adamantly against Mahathir's new role as Harapan's chairperson, Parti Sosialis Malaysia's (PSM) Sungai Siput MP Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj took a more moderate stance.

While he was not a fan of Mahathir as Harapan's chairperson, Jeyakumar said, PSM was nonetheless willing to work with the opposition coalition.

However, he added, it would only do so if Harapan could ensure PSM that there would not be three-cornered fights among the coalition, PSM and BN in the seats PSM contests in the 14th general election.

The other condition, Jeyakumar said, is that Harapan must work to ensure that BN does not gain a two-thirds majority in the coming general election.

That, he said, was very important, since BN was already doing a lot of damage now and would only do much more damage to the nation and people if it gained a two-thirds majority in Parliament.