PETALING JAYA: The appointment of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as adviser of “State Government 4” (SG4) is a move to make him the de facto leader of Perikatan Nasional, says former federal minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak.
SG4 refers to four states held by the Opposition in Peninsular Malaysia.
“This explains why (Perikatan chairman) Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was not invited for the meeting with the Perlis, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu (leadership), when PAS met Dr Mahathir early this month.
“I must say it’s a brilliant move by Dr Mahathir if his real intention (is) to be in the political forefront again despite the setback in Langkawi during the 15th General Election (last November),” Salleh said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Salleh, a former Sabah chief minister and also communications and multimedia minister from 2015 to 2018, said Muhyiddin had little choice but to go along with PAS in the coalition.
Muhyiddin’s Bersatu has 31 parliamentary seats while PAS has 43. Additionally, all four states in SG4 are governed by PAS.
The four mentris besar of these states have agreed in principle to form SG4, an official grouping for strategic cooperation and investments.
On Thursday, PAS vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said Dr Mahathir would be made the SG4 adviser on matters of governance as well as to help draw investors to the states.
