BAGAN DATUK: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's top priority is diversion, says Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Umno president, and Barisan Nasional chairman also labelled Dr Mahathir as the “Father of Diversion”.
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He said this when asked to comment on the former prime minister’s comments that Pakatan Harapan chairman Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Zahid had held talks about working together after the 15th General Election (GE15).
“Tun (Dr) Mahathir knows that his party, Pejuang, is going to lose terribly in GE15, and that his popularity is going downwards, so he tries to divert.
“The party was defeated during the Johor state elections, losing its deposit. He was rejected by his own party, and coalition members to continue helming the country after their 22-month rule.
“So now he has no leverage, and cannot sell his parti Pejuang, and the newly-formed Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) coalition. People not only in Langkawi but nationwide are rejecting him,” he told a press conference at his house here Monday (Nov 7).
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Ahmad Zahid, the incumbent Bagan Datuk MP, said Dr Mahathir felt that whatever he says was all true, and even his speculations were true.
On similar comments made by Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang that Barisan would be working with Pakatan, Ahmad Zahid said Abdul Hadi was also similar to Dr Mahathir.
“Only he (Abdul Hadi) knows, only he is right, only he has the right speculation.
“Let us get through GE15 first, and after that we will see what seats we have. We still have 11 days to go.
“Our approach is to create political stability in the country,” he said.
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Zahid said Barisan should work with parties like Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS), Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), and maybe other coalitions, but "let us cross that bridge on Nov 19 first".
“We will discuss later whether we are forming the government on our own or if we need to work with other coalitions,” he added.
When asked if there was a possibility to work with Anwar, Zahid said, "Why must we work only with him? We can also work with other political leaders.”
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To a question that both leaders (Zahid and Anwar) had been avoiding criticising each another, Zahid said, “Why must we criticise, we should portray our parties, we should tell our voters our aims when the new government is formed.
“The approach of condemning or shaming must not be done. Even those who betrayed Barisan, I have not criticised them.
“This is matured politics, and we don’t badmouth any candidates,” he said.
