Sin Chew Daily

The prime ministerial candidate for PH++ has hit a deadlock and no consensus has been reached up till this very moment.

DAP organizing secretary Anthony Loke has openly urged PKR to come up with a decision as soon as possible whether to accept the proposed "Mahathir-Anwar" combo, and this has highlighted the differences in the coalition.

PH is no longer in the government, and recapturing Putrajaya will involve tons of hurdles to cross. The pact will need to get enough MPs on its side, which has so far sees little progress.

As if that is not enough, conflicts over the choice of PM candidate will only pull the coalition further and further away from its ultimate goal.

PH has always wanted PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister. Even after the 2018 general elections, PH reiterated that Tun Mahathir should hand over the baton to Anwar as promised, while still supporting the former as PM.

Unfortunately, the "Sheraton coup" that took place in late February has caused PH to lose its grip on the federal administration. Again, Anwar had a close brush with the PM seat.

As PN is ruling on a razor-thin majority, PH has been working with Mahathir and Parti Warisan Sabah, and is now trying to win over East Malaysian parties in a bid to take down Muhyiddin.

The idea is good, but political reality is a lot more complicated than this. Given the ramification of interests, things may not always go according to the plan.

By right Anwar should be the PM candidate, but Mahathir is not prepared to give way and has insisted to sit for another year before handing over the seat to Anwar.

As Anthony Loke has pointed out, PH has proposed that Anwar become prime minister and Mukhriz his deputy, but as this has not been unanimously agreed, there is an alternative plan to let Mahathir become PM and Anwar the DPM.

With Anwar and PKR still hesitant over the "Mahathir-Anwar" counter-proposal, the PH++ prime ministerial candidate remains undecided. DAP's call for PKR to state its stand at this time no doubt has put the coalition's differences on the table, and this will invariably have a negative bearing on the relationship among the component parties.

Anwar's political secretary Farhash Wafa Salvador has hit out at DAP and Amanah for not standing on the same side as Anwar, while the party's vice president Chang Lih Kang has questioned DAP why it has wanted Anwar to accept the "Mahathir-Anwar" combo instead of persuading Mahathir and Warisan president Shafie Apdal to support Anwar.

PKR organizing secretary Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said it is unfair to force Anwar to accept the "Mahathir-Anwar" combo when there is not yet agreement on the issue of PM candidate.

The road to Putrajaya is not a smooth superhighway, and PH++ is already stuck in the PM candidate issue before it actually sets off in its race to recapture Putrajaya. If PH++ cannot even agree on a single PM candidate, how is it going to run the country in future?

Differences among member parties have dealt a definite impact on the trust among the parties. If the matter is allowed to go unresolved, the confidence of supporters as well as MPs they wish to win over will be affected, making it even harder for PH++ to come back to Putrajaya.