“Leaders need to have a critical mind instead. We don’t want a leader who is referred to as a pak haji but is corrupted. A corrupt pak haji is not our leader. This is Zainal’s advice, not the words of DAP, PKR, or Amanah,” she said, referring to Zainal Abidin Ahmad, the renowned Negeri Sembilan-born scholar and Malay thinker also known as Zaaba.
Speaking to about 1,000 people attending Pakatan Harapan’s first convention here, she said the alliance must vet potential political partners stringently before they are allowed to join the opposition grouping of DAP, PKR and Amanah.
Anyone interested in joining the strongest Opposition bloc must share the same agenda, and be committed in efforts to ensure a straight fight in the next general election, she added.
“We welcome those who want to join us, but there is a condition. If you break the commitment towards reform, you are out,” she said.
Her remarks come in the wake of a report in The Star yesterday that the recently-formed Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia was expected to sign an agreement to join Pakatan Harapan at the convention today, but that the plan had been cancelled after the party’s president, Muhyiddin Yassin, had stated his intention to consider the matter carefully first.
Parti Amanah’s deputy president Salahuddin Ayub said Pakatan Harapan needs to put forward a candidate for the prime ministership should it succeed in forming the Federal Government, while awaiting the release of Anwar Ibrahim.
“We want to free Anwar, but for that we have to capture Putrajaya. Before that, who is our (prime minister) candidate? This convention can decide, in any way, the candidate. Don’t repeat our past mistake where we weren’t ready to name Anwar (as a candidate for the post).”