A state Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) leader has lambasted PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli over the latter’s remark against Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Terengganu PPBM chairman Datuk Razali Idris disagree with Rafizi, who had previously said that Dr Mahathir’s popularity was not a factor in Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) victory in the 14th General Election (GE14).
“Rafizi should stop pretending like he is a hero,” he quipped.
Razali attributed PH’s win during the recent polls to the political strategies formulated by Dr Mahathir and not the survey conducted by Invoke Malaysia (Invoke) as claimed by the former Pandan Member of Parliament.
“Among the many strategies presented by Tun M (Dr Mahathir) including for all (PH) candidates (in the Peninsular) to use one party logo and coming out with a solution on the distribution of seats among coalition members.
“Announcement of PH’s choice of Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have also help to increase confidence among the people on the credibility of the coalition.
“According to the survey conducted by Invoke, Pas will not win any seats in Terengganu and Kelantan but what had happened during GE14 was otherwise,” Razali said in a statement today.
Instead of acknowledging Dr Mahathir’s popularity, Rafizi had said the rise in the cost of living and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) were the two main reasons helping PH defeating Barisan Nasional in GE14.
Rafizi made the conclusion based on the post-poll survey conducted by Invoke.
Razali believed otherwise and said Dr Mahathir only took less than two years to defeat BN compared to other parties in PH.
“DAP has been (going against BN) for 60 years followed by PKR for almost 20 years.
“Mohamad Sabu (the present Defence Minister) through (his former party) Pas and Parti Amanah Negara took 40 years to defeat BN, which only took Dr Mahathir and PPBM less than two years.
“This is proof of the major influence and popularity of Dr Mahathir is helping PH to win the election.
“Having that said, I believed that now is not the time to discredit or belittle others.
“We should use this opportunity to move forward and rebuild the nation. It is a pity that Rafizi is walking backwards by creating tension among parties in PH,” he said. – NST