Social media abuzz with announcements on coalition leadership, Anwar for eighth PM and abolition of GST.
Pakatan Harapan (PH) Component Parties:
- Pakatan Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)
- Democratic Action Party (DAP)
- Parti Amanah Negara (PAN)
- Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM)
After a five-hour Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting held at PKR headquarters on Thursday, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad spoke at a press conference that took place after midnight – three hours after its initial scheduled time. He was flanked by Pakatan Harapan party leaders, each holding the coalition’s new logo.
Mahathir announced the coalition’s new leadership line-up, saying the decision was made after all four component parties agreed unanimously on it.
Line-up
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has been named Pakatan Harapan’s de facto leader, while Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be the coalition’s chairman.
“Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is the president, while the deputy presidents are PPBM president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) president Mohamad Sabu.
“The vice-presidents are PKR deputy-president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, PPBM deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, Sarawak DAP chief Chong Chieng Jen and PAN deputy president Salahuddin Ayub.
“Meanwhile, the secretary-general is Pakatan Harapan chief secretary Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, and DAP vice president M Kula Segaran is the treasurer,” he said.
Pakatan Harapan was supposed to have finalised its structure several months ago in order to register the coalition with the RoS.
The announcement yesterday was the fruit of months of negotiations and discussions between the component parties in the coalition.
PPBM had reportedly made concessions, agreeing that Wan Azizah would be the president of the coalition instead of Muhyiddin.
However, it was adamant that Mahathir should be made chairperson.
- Anwar Ibrahim, PH De Facto Leader / PKR adviser
- Mahathir Mohamad, PH Chairman / PPBM chairman
- Wan Azizah, PH President / PKR president
- Muhyiddin Yassin, PH Deputy President / PPBM president
- Lim Guan Eng, PH Deputy President / DAP secretary-general
- Mohamad Sabu, PH Deputy President / PAN president
- Azmin Ali, PH Vice-President / PKR deputy president
- Mukhriz Mahathir, PH Vice-President / PPBM vice-president
- Chong Chieng Jen, PH Vice-President / DAP Sarawak chief
- Salahuddin Ayub, PH Vice-President / PAN deputy president
- Saifuddin Abdullah, PH Secretary-General / PH chief secretary from PKR
- M Kula Segaran, PH Treasurer / DAP vice-president
Registration and Logo
The former premier said that Pakatan Harapan will submit its registration form to the Registrar of Societies (RoS) soon.
“We will register it as soon as possible, once we complete the details. We already have the structure. We will send it together with the logo,” he said.
“Less than a week, tomorrow if it’s up to me,” he added.
Following calls for the public to submit logo designs that could best describe the coalition, the new logo was unveiled during the press conference.
The logo has the word ‘Harapan’ against a red backdrop, with the ‘A’ in the middle in the shape of a triangle.
“We enlarged the ‘A’ to make it seem like the top of a mountain,” Mahathir told reporters.
Anwar
Mahathir said Pakatan Harapan will also push the agenda of Anwar becoming the 8th Prime Minister should the Opposition win the upcoming General Election.
“He will be freed by the efforts of the PM before, then we will apply for royal pardon. Then we will follow the laws.
“Pakatan Harapan gives its commitment to start the procedure to obtain a royal pardon for Anwar within the first week of forming the government.
“Today we are only announcing the eighth prime minister…we have yet to declare the seventh,” MAHATHIR said.
GST
Mahathir also said if the pact managed to wrest Putrajaya in the next general election, it would abolish the Goods and Services Tax (GST) within the first 100 days and stabilise the petrol prices, among other plans.
Team-up again
Anwar was deputy prime minister and heir apparent to Mahathir in the 1990s until he was unceremoniously kicked out of the government and Umno following allegations of corruption and sexual misconduct.
Arch rivals in the past, today, they have teamed up again to lead Pakatan Harapan into GE14.
