He said the “Pakatan Nasional” theory to form a government remains just political polemic,as long as the five parties within the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition are still united.
“Any talk about the formation of a government besides PH, is completely baseless — except and only when PH fails to remain a united five-party coalition,” he said in a Facebook post.
He added that until then, this would only remain a theory, unless Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had other plans after seeing PH’s failures or PH members acting against national interests.
He said Mahathir had previously stated that he would not hesitate to leave PH if that was the case.
Annuar also said it was possible that the theory of a back-door pact may have come after several closed-door “discussions” among Umno members ahead of the monthly Umno Supreme Council meeting scheduled tomorrow.
He added that talk of such a pact may have also surfaced due to the uncertainty surrounding the handover of the prime minister’s post to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.
Annuar added that the transition cannot occur unless Anwar manages to get the majority support in Parliament, as stated in the Federal Constitution.
“The problem now is that there are doubts that Anwar can get majority support. This automatically means that Mahathir would need to carry on in his role as the prime minister.”
Annuar also attributed the Pakatan Nasional polemic to increasing dissatisfaction towards Mahathir among the public.
He added that the main issue, especially for the Muafakat Nasional, consisting of Umno and PAS, was whether the government would be involved in policies and actions that were unacceptable to the rakyat.
Annuar again pointed to DAP who he said has “damaged national interests and are not welcomed by the rakyat”.
He added that Umno has yet to declare its support for Mahathir to complete his term as prime minister.
Meanwhile, Annuar also acknowledged previous discussions in establishing a Pakatan Nasional pact, but added that these were speculative and were only proposals or ideas.
He again maintained that any pact would be considered so long as DAP was not involved. “Even then, it must be thorough, careful and subject to certain terms and conditions. There will be no ‘blank cheque’ from Umno.”
He added that a new coalition aligned with the aspirations of the Muafakat Nasional was possible and was a matter for discussion.
However, this should not be done behind the scenes. “It should be done through the front door.”
He added that such a matter can only be decided by the Umno Supreme Council.
‘Nothing wrong supporting new alliance’
Meanwhile, former Kimanis MP and foreign minister Anifah Aman said there was nothing wrong supporting a new political alliance if it benefitted the rakyat.
“What is important is political leaders must realise that their mandate is to improve the quality of life of the people.
“If the government today is unable to perform as hoped by the rakyat, then a new alliance and a new government that is more effective and authoritative should be formed,” he said in a statement.
He added that political leaders from Sabah should not rush to give their support to any new alliance.
However, Anifah said it would not be wrong to support the new pact if they could attend to various pressing issues — such as the Malaysia Agreement 1963, oil royalty payments to the state and the influx of illegal immigrants.
“If all these matters are taken care of, then there would be no reason why the formation of a new political pact should be rejected,” he said.