Rein in supporters pressuring Dr M to quit, PM’s pol-sec tells Anwar
FMT Reporters
-June 4, 2019 6:59 PM
Mohd Zahid Md Arip, political secretary to Dr Mahathir Mohamad. (Youtube pic)PETALING JAYA: A political secretary to Dr Mahathir Mohamad has sent a thinly veiled message to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim to rein in his supporters who have been pressuring the prime minister to make way for him.
In a YouTube video uploaded yesterday, Mohd Zahid Md Arip was asked to comment on a recent remark by PKR’s Sungai Petani MP Johari Abdul that all of Kedah’s problems will be resolved once Anwar takes over as prime minister from Mahathir.
Kedah is the home state of Mahathir and his son Mukhriz, who is the menteri besar.
Zahid, in his response, used an analogy of a mangy dog which barks at passersby in a neighbourhood when it senses its master’s frustrations.
“The dog is not barking for the first time, it has barked many times, this being the latest. Whoever passes by the house, it will bark, it has a sickness,” he said.
Asked what “sickness” the dog has, Zahid said it has “penyakit kalah di bahagian” (sickness from loss of the division).
“It’s not just one person, I hear there is another, Klang or Kapar. I see this as a plot to pressure Dr Mahathir, it will not stop here and it will continue after Hari Raya.”
Zahid said the dog cannot be calmed by anyone but its master.
“So I hope the master will speak up to silence them, if not people will say that the master is in cahoots with the dog,” he said, adding that he hoped this was not the case.
“We live in the neighbourhood together, we don’t really care if the dog barks but this seems to be going overboard to the point we are uncomfortable.”
Zahid added that the people were starting to notice the antics of some “desperados” in Pakatan Harapan who kept asking when Mahathir planned to retire.
Recently, PKR’s Kapar MP Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid called on Mahathir to state clearly when he would let Anwar take over as prime minister.
Abdullah said it was not good enough for Mahathir to repeatedly say he would eventually hand over power to the PKR president without being “clear as to the time frame”.
Under an agreement struck by Pakatan Harapan prior to the 14th general election, Mahathir will hand over power to Anwar after an unspecified period of time.
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