Amid boiling tensions in PKR, party president Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad have called for an end to infighting.
The prime minister said the ruling coalition must not allow itself to be distracted by side issues which are of no value, in the wake of the spat between PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy Mohamad Azmin Ali.
Dr Mahathir Mohamad said time was running out for the Pakatan Harapan administration to deliver on its manifesto.
“We need to also ask ourselves if we will still get the mandate if we continue to fight among ourselves all for the sake of power without realising that we could lose because of this scramble for power,” he said at the PKR retreat in Port Dickson tonight.
In his speech, Mahathir thanked PKR for extending him the invitation to speak at the retreat.
“It is an honour for a politician to be invited and to give a speech by another party. I appreciate it,” he said.
He reminded those present the PH government had taken over from a corrupt administration, which made their work difficult.
However, he said that in a year, the government had managed to get the country back on track even though “we need more time to repair the damage done by BN”.
He asked that if all the PH coalition parties could put their differences aside before the general election, “why not now?”
Mahathir said the parties had managed to keep any anger, revenge and hatred aside before the polls “because we realised that if we do not stop them (BN) from ruling, the future of the country and our families will be uncertain”.
“We had differences in opinion but we compromised. Even though we were not happy with several things, we moved forward,” he said.
Mahathir also told PKR that the PH coalition used its party symbol during the elections and it was not any other symbol.
He also warned PKR’s leadership to be careful of opportunists seeking to advance their self-interests by entering Pakatan Harapan’s ranks.
He quoted the old saying that success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.
“In our rush of victory, the opportunists have begun to encircle us, and in our own complacency we permitted them to slip through our ranks,” Dr Mahathir said.
He said such opportunists’ objectives are clear, to enrich themselves and fan the flames of conflict between Pakatan Harapan’s members if those personal agendas are being blocked.
“Until today we are still struggling to combat the enemy within (musuh dalam selimut) and sometimes the sabotage they wreak is capable of bringing down the government, lest we fail to handle it,” Dr Mahathir said.