DAP-PKR-Umno grand coalition only after GE15, says Guan Eng

(FMT) – DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said it would be better for a grand coalition to be forged after the next general election, due to the current political uncertainty.

“The situation is very fluid. In such times, it is better to first look at the outcome of the general election,” he said in an interview with the National Council of Professors.

Lim said the only thing certain now was that there were three coalitions, namely Pakatan Harapan, Perikatan Nasional and Barisan Nasional.

“Which will be the main coalition (after elections) is up to the rakyat to decide.”

Pejuang, a newly-formed party led by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, had last year proposed for all opposition parties to form a “grand coalition” to face Perikatan Nasional in the next general election.

In December, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said Pakatan Harapan could collaborate with any party, even Mahathir, to form a “great, grand coalition” so long as they were aligned to the grouping’s principles.

However, last month, PKR Youth said PH should “move on” from any plan to work with Mahathir following the former prime minister’s latest attack on Anwar, who is also the PKR president.

On a separate matter, Lim defended DAP’s willingness to forge an alliance with Umno during the Perak crisis.

Speculation about a possible Umno tie-up with the DAP or its partners in Pakatan Harapan arose after a confidence motion in support of Ahmad Faizal Azumu was defeated by 48 votes to 10 in the state assembly in December.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had said then that there might be a possibility of forming a coalition with other parties, including those from PH, to make up the new Perak government.

Perak DAP chief Nga Kor Ming responded to Umno’s speculation by saying that DAP was willing to forge an alliance in order to form a stable and multiracial state government. This, however, led to brickbats.

Lim this evening pointed out that what took place in Perak was merely a discussion, with no decision made.

“I feel there is nothing wrong to discuss. If discussing is wrong, we would not join the independent committee to advise the King on the emergency.

“It would not be healthy if discussions were not allowed. We will stand to lose out.”