Shafie as PM, Anwar and Mukhriz candidates for DPM 1 and 2 - Tun Mahathir

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today revealed a proposal to nominate Parti Warisan Sabah (Warisan) president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal as Prime Minister as agreed to by other senior leaders of Pakatan Harapan.

In his official Facebook post, Dr Mahathir said the agreement was reached in an informal discussion at the Sabah Guest House, Kuala Lumpur on June 25 between Shafie, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Mohamad Sabu, DAP chairman Tan Kok Wai and secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

In addition, he said they had also agreed to nominate PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as Deputy Prime Minister 1 candidate, and his son Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir as Deputy Prime Minister 2.

“Someone might ask why Shafie was nominated. Some may have forgotten that Shafie was one of the original leaders against the kleptocratic government since before the 14th election.

"He was also one of the leaders who had been the victim of the (Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak) government and had been ousted from the post of UMNO minister and vice president for failing to accept corruption and theft through the ridiculous 1MDB scandal," he said.

He added that if the move was successful, they believed it would strengthen relations between the Peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak.

Dr Mahathir said they would wait for the next Parliamentary session, and he would submit a motion of no confidence on Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.

“God willing, with the support of MPs who cannot accept Tan Sri Muhyiddin's back-door government and want to restore the people's mandate will be with me and other colleagues supporting the proposal for Datuk Seri Shafie to become Prime Minister.

"If this effort is successful, the steps to ensure that democracy as demanded by the people, will be achieved. We need to end the government that the people did not choose,” he said.