PAS secretary-general Takiyuddin Hassan, in defending his remarks that PKR president Anwar Ibrahim is a convict, said he would not apologise to anyone over the matter.

He said those hitting out at him now should get their facts straight.

“I spoke based on facts, and I ask those who want me to apologise to check the facts and the law, because this case was decided on by the courts.

“Our country has clear laws about the position of those convicted by the courts, so they have to check this. I have checked; if not, I wouldn’t have said it,” Takiyuddin said after Umno’s 73rd anniversary celebrations in Kuala Lumpur last night.

Earlier this week while campaigning in Sandakan for the by-election, Takiyuddin had said that Anwar was unfit to be prime minister because of past convictions.

The Kota Baru MP had asked the crowd if they wanted an ex-convict as their future premier.

“There is someone who dreams to be a prime minister. When he got out of prison, I don’t know how he got a pardon from the Agong.

“As a lawyer, we know that when someone comes out from prison, his status for life is a convict,” the PAS leader had said.

Yesterday, Finance Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng had slammed Takiyuddin for his remarks.

He tweeted that Takiyuddin had disrespected the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong by questioning his decision to pardon Anwar.

PKR Youth also accused Takiyuddin of indirectly belittling the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for granting a full pardon to Anwar.

Its chief, Akmal Nasir, said Takiyuddin had crossed the line and urged him to retract his remarks.

Anwar, meanwhile, had dismissed Takiyuddin’s statements, saying he had more important things to do.

The Port Dickson MP had said the question of whether Takiyuddin had insulted the Yang di-Pertuan Agong should be referred to lawyers.

On May 16 last year, then Agong Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan pardoned Anwar, who was jailed after being found guilty of sodomy.

Anwar had been serving a five-year jail sentence since February 2015 after the Federal Court upheld his conviction and sentence on a charge of sodomising former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Under a Pakatan Harapan agreement, Anwar is set to replace Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister. – May 12, 2019.