PETALING JAYA, June 30 (Sin Chew Daily) — Political analyst Dr Jeniri Amir said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has lost the legitimacy to nominate Parti Warisan Sabah president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal as PH++ prime ministerial candidate, or decide who the country's future prime minister should be.

'Mahathir a problem maker, not problem solver'

He told Sinchew.com.my in an interview that in any democracy, the party with the most seats should get to decide who the prime minister is.

"Mahathir now doesn't even have a party, and only has five seats. He has absolutely no right to name Shafie Apdal as PM candidate.

"Moreover, Parti Warisan also only has nine seats."

Jeniri said cracks and suspicions have already emerged in the cooperation among Pakatan Harapan parties, and this does not augur well for the political pact's future.

"They all have their own agendas, to make sure their parties remain relevant in Malaysian politics."

He also said Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is feeling upset about Amanah's and DAP's support of Tun Mahathir.

"Anwar may turn to support PM Muhyiddin, but will Perikatan Nasional accept him?"

He said Mahathir is only a problem maker, not a problem solver, and if PH were to move forward, it must free itself from Mahathir's control and not to listen to him any more.

'PM candidate issue must be settled fast'

Political analyst Dr Phoon Wing Keong said conflicts and frictions over the issue of prime ministerial candidate have tensed up the relationship of PH component parties.

However, he said this is not going to cause the pact to collapse.

"The cost of a split is definitely higher than maintaining their mutual cooperation," he told Sinchew.com.my.

Phoon said there isn't much problem with PH parties when it comes to political ideologies, seat allocation, fighting the PN government, Umno or policy consensus.

"The only problem is the choice of prime minster."

He said this is a problem that must be settled first and not to be delayed any further, be it for the July parliamentary sitting or a snap election.

"Both Mahathir and Anwar have their own agendas, but at this point, Anwar as the opposition leader to a certain extent has failed to play this role."

Possible rise of demagogue

Meanwhile, local political scientist, activist and columnist Dr Wong Chin Huat pointed out that given the current political turmoil, what Malaysians should worry about is not PH, but the country's multi-party democracy.

He said the chaotic situation would eventually make the voters feel disgusted at major political parties and leaders and turn to support political outsiders, adding that this could also give rise to a demagogue, such as the rise of Nazism during the Weimar Republic of Germany after the first world war.

Wong said if Malaysians have lost their faith in democracy, the demagogue that will rise to power is very likely an extreme racist, and this will undermine the country's multiculturalism.