I can garner support to be PM - Anwar to Guan Eng
SABAH POLLS | PKR president Anwar Ibrahim has told DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng that he can garner enough support to be the prime minister candidate for Pakatan Harapan.
This came after Lim again proposed Warisan president Shafie Apdal as possible premiership candidate if Anwar is unable to court sufficient support...
SABAH POLLS | PKR president Anwar Ibrahim has told DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng that he can garner enough support to be the prime minister candidate for Pakatan Harapan.
This came after Lim again proposed Warisan president Shafie Apdal as possible premiership candidate if Anwar is unable to court sufficient support.
"He (Lim) gave his views. It's okay, we have no problem with it," Anwar told the media during his campaign trail for PKR's Api-Api candidate Christina Liew tonight.
"My answer (to Lim) is that I can," he stressed.
DAP's apparent refusal to drop its push for Shafie to become prime minister as an alternative has rekindled old wounds, particularly in PKR.
In an immediate response, Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar urged DAP to focus on the Sabah election instead of racing to break the spirit of friendship.
Shafie as an alternative prime ministerial candidate was first mooted by Lim at a meeting between DAP, Amanah, Warisan and former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's group, which is now operating under the Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) platform.
The proposal was intended to break a deadlock between Anwar and Mahathir as neither could accept the other as the prime ministerial candidate.
The Harapan-led federal government collapsed in late February after Bersatu pulled out of the coalition, along with a group of PKR defectors.
Read more: Sabah Decides 2020: Making sense of the players, parties and battles
Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as the new prime minister after he formed the new Perikatan Nasional government by co-opting BN, GPS, PAS, PBS and Star.
Despite Muhyiddin's fragile majority, Harapan and its allies have been unable to regain power.
Harapan has 91 MPs while its allies have 17, bringing the total to 108. However, it is still four seats short of a majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
However, the DAP and Amanah later wavered on the proposal as PKR responded negatively.
The fact that PKR was not invited to the June meeting also further strained relations in Harapan at a time of heightened tension, so much so that PKR issued a gag order on its leaders to prevent more quarrels.
DAP and Amanah have been frustrated at Anwar's inability to court the support of MPs in East Malaysia, particularly in Sarawak.
Follow Malaysiakini's coverage of the Sabah state election here.
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