Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin today said he was disappointed that Dr Mahathir Mohamad and four others had chosen to work with Pakatan Harapan but wished him best of luck “if that is what Tun wishes”.
In a statement, the PPBM president asked party members to be patient after the membership of Mahathir, his son Mukhriz, Maszlee Malik, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and Amiruddin Hamzah was terminated on Thursday.
Muhyiddin said the five were not sacked but their actions saw their membership “immediately nullified”.
“I did not take immediate action even though there were a lot of people urging action against them earlier.
“I want to be fair to all parties and want to make sure that any action taken must be in line with the party’s constitution,” he said.
Muhyiddin, who has said he is now acting PPBM chairman, believed that PPBM will continue to grow in strength as the party has faced a lot of challenges “from the time I had set it up”.
He advised members not to fight for any individual but for religion, race and country.
“Of course, we are disappointed with the choices made by Dr Mahathir for not being with us,” he said, noting that the former prime minister, Mukhriz, Maszlee, Syed Saddiq and Amiruddin had chosen to work with PH.
“If that is what Tun wishes, I wish him best of luck.”
Yesterday, Mahathir maintained that he was still the PPBM chairman, a day after he was informed that his membership had been terminated because of his move to back the opposition bloc.
“I am the chairman, this is my office. I had not come to this office due to the Covid-19 restrictions,” he told reporters at the PPBM headquarters where he made a surprise appearance. – FMT