Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad
SERDANG: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday stood by his recent claim that there was an attempt by Umno to woo Pakatan Harapan (PH) elected representatives into its fold on the night of May 9 (the day the 14th general election was held) but the effort was futile as they did not take the bait.
Dr Mahathir also reiterated that PH’s victory in GE14 should have been announced at 8.30pm but it was stalled due to efforts by Umno and PAS to woo several Malay MPs from PH to crossover.
“Umno intended to work with PAS to attract some Malay representatives from PKR and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) to form the government. But the plan was unsuccessful because they failed to persuade the representatives from PH, either PKR or Bersatu to crossover,” he said this in response to former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s statement that he (Najib) did not give any instructions to woo PH members to establish a Malay-Muslim government on the night of May 9.
Najib, who is also former Umno president, was reported as saying that he did not know if there was any involvement of other parties in the said attempt.
When met after officiating the Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agro Tourism Exposition (MAHA) 2018 at the Malaysia Agricultural Expo Site (MAEPS) here today, Dr Mahathir said following an inadequate number of seats, the Barisan Nasional (BN) had to concede defeat and recognise PH’s victory.
Dr Mahathir, in an interview with the Mekong Review magazine published last month, revealed there was behind-the-scenes political ‘manoeuvrings’ to woo Malay-Muslim representatives to crossover to form the government, several hours before the official decision of the 14th General Election (GE14) was announced the same night. — Bernama