KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): Amanah and DAP have come out with a separate joint statement from that of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, saying that they view Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal's (pic) nomination only as a new option to restore the people's mandate given to the Pakatan Harapan coalition which worked together with Warisan in the 14th general election (GE14).
"However, the nomination needs to be discussed at the Amanah and DAP central leadership levels first and then brought to the Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting to be decided together," they said.
Their statement was made in response to Dr Mahathir saying that he and opposition party leaders had unanimously decided to nominate the Sabah chief minister as the prime minister during an informal meeting on Thursday here.
During the meeting, Dr Mahathir said, they also decided to name PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as deputy prime minister I and former Kedah menteri besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir as deputy prime minister II.
"I believe that if this move is successful, it will further strengthen the relationship between the peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) with Sabah and Sarawak," Dr Mahathir added.
The former premier explained that Mohd Shafie was one of the first leaders to go against the kleptocratic government since before the 14th general election (GE14).
According to Dr Mahathir, Mohd Shafie was also one of the leaders who had been a victim of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's government and ousted from the post of a minister and Umno vice-president for failing to accept the corruption linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.