PPBM will join Pakatan, declares Mahathir

Roar of applause as PPBM chairman says no disagreements about ‘basic matters’ and intention to bringing down ‘a kleptocrat’.

(FMT) – Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, won a roar of applause at his first appearance at a Pakatan Harapan convention today when he reaffirmed that his Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia was committed to joining the opposition bloc.

Denying reports claiming that PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin had put the plan on hold, Mahathir said it had always been the party’s intention to be a part of Pakatan Harapan.

He said PPBM agreed with the PH goal of upholding the Constitution and therefore had no disagreements when it came to the “basic matters.”

“We hope Pakatan will accept PPBM, so we can all work together towards bringing down a leader who is now known worldwide, as a kleptocrat. Trust that I, Muhyiddin, Mukhriz (Mahathir’s son) and other PPBM leaders are committed towards joining Pakatan,” he said.

“Claims saying that Muhyiddin was against collaboration with Pakatan were completely untrue,” said the former prime minister in a speech at Pakatan Harapan’s first convention, held here today.

A crowd of over 1,000 people present then broke into a huge roar of support, as they chanted “Reformasi”.

Mahathir for the first time, then declared that he had no problem supporting the PKR-led Reformasi movement which began when former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was sacked as the country’s number two in 1998.

The 91-year-old was the prime minister then, and when Anwar was sent to jail for corruption and sodomy, much of the Reformasi movement was aimed at bringing down Mahathir’s government.

“Reformasi is also about reforming the law. We can’t just brush aside the law,” he said.