Malaysia’s opposition split over Mahathir’s move to oust PM
Speculation has been rife since last year that if Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin – who was sacked as deputy prime minister last year – were to take over the federal government, Mr Azmin would be deputy prime minister.
Shannon Teoh, The Straits Times
Simmering tensions within the opposition have gone up a notch after the lightning move last Friday to endorse erstwhile enemy Mahathir Mohamad’s “Citizens’ Declaration” that brought several Umno and former government figures together with prominent civil activists in a joint battle against Prime Minister Najib Razak.
While several top opposition leaders were in attendance, such as Democratic Action Party (DAP) supremo Lim Kit Siang and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, there were prominent absentees from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).
Sources told The Straits Times that the party is split over whether to place all bets on a change of government, or to hedge on winning a general election that must be called by 2018.
PKR deputy president Azmin Ali and vice-president Tian Chua were at the unprecedented event where the former sat next to Tun Dr Mahathir.
But despite the support by jailed opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim for the collaboration from behind bars, his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and daughter Nurul Izzah – the PKR president and vice-president, respectively – were conspicuous by their absence.
