ANWAR Ibrahim, who is set to be released from jail this week, should not be made prime minister immediately, Daim Zainuddin said, describing the move as “foolish”.

Anwar, 70, could receive a royal pardon tomorrow. Part of the Pakatan Harapan plan is to elect the de facto PKR leader to Parliament and replace Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, although the time frame is not settled.

 “The transition will be mid-term. If you break your promise to the people, they are not going to trust you any more. It will be foolish for anybody to change (prime ministers now),” Daim, head of the newly formed Council of Eminent Persons, was reported as saying by the Straits Times.   

Daim also told the Singapore daily that he met Anwar and told him that “you all tried how many elections and failed. Whether you like it or not, Mahathir succeeded”.

PKR has criticised Dr Mahathir’s cabinet selection, arguing that it should be given more posts as it won the most number of seats in the recently concluded 14th general election. – May 15, 2018.