Muhyiddin's statement is like 'counting chicken before they hatch' - Salleh

"This is called counting your chickens before they hatch. First of all, Muhyiddin needs to convince the voters that he has something better to offer them compared to the current government.

"At the moment, it appears like Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) is merely set up to oust Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, just like PKR (Parti Keadilan Rakyat), a party to free Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim from jail," he said his latest blog posting on Sunday.

Yesterday, local media quoted the former deputy prime minister as saying that the Opposition only needs 10 more state seats to replace the BN as the Johor government in the next general election.

Johor has 56 state seats, of which Barisan Nasional (BN) has 37 which the Opposition has 19 seats.

Salleh who is also UMNO Treasurer said Pakatan Harapan had not even decided yet whether to admit PPBM into the Opposition coalition or whether PPBM was merely going to enter into an electoral pact on seat distribution.

"This must first be established because if they cannot agree even before the election how are they going to agree after the election in the event they do win Johor?"

Salleh also noted that former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had said they do not need to reveal the Opposition’s candidate for prime minister just yet and neither do they need to set up a shadow cabinet.

"Pakatan Harapan wants Anwar as the Prime Minister. Does this mean Dr Mahathir does not want Anwar? In that case whom does Dr Mahathir want?" the minister asked.

"Dr Mahathir said in London recently that he wants Muhyiddin as the Opposition candidate for prime minister and today he says no need to decide yet. Is this because PPBM and Pakatan Harapan do not disagree on the candidate."

Salleh said it was a known fact that PAS cannot agree to both Anwar and Muhyiddin.

"So who will PAS choose as the Prime Minister?" he asked.