DAP was caught by surprise over Anwar Ibrahim’s decision to withdraw as the prime minister candidate for Pakatan Harapan (PH), Lim Guan Eng said.

Lim, who is DAP secretary-general, said his party was “left in the dark” about Anwar’s decision

“This (announcement) is the first time I am hearing this. I didn’t know about it. We were left in the dark.

“Our position remains the same. We support Anwar as the PM candidate.

“I think it is only right for PKR, Kak Wan (PKR president and Anwar’s wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) to comment on this decision,” he said.

Lim, who is also Penang chief minister, was speaking to reporters after the central Seberang Prai district “i-Sejahtera” welfare programme for various groups such as single mothers, senior citizens, and students at SP Arena, in Seberang Jaya, today.

Dr Wan Azizah also attended the event briefly but she left before Lim arrived. She did not speak to reporters.

Anwar, the de facto PKR leader, yesterday announced that he has withdrawn as PH’s prime minister candidate as the opposition coalition prepared for the coming elections.

“Given the call to focus all our attention on the general election, I choose not to offer myself as the candidate for prime minister,” the jailed opposition leader said in a statement.

He had also said that with the announcement, all other side issues such as leadership and power struggles and verbal spats within PH, should stop.

The announcement had come at a time when PH was embroiled in a leadership tussle over who would lead the coalition into GE14.

Anwar is serving a five-year prison sentence for a sodomy conviction. It is impossible for him to contest in the next polls.

In recent weeks, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was prime minister for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, had offered to return to his old job, if there was consensus from all party leaders in PH, which comprise PKR, DAP, Amanah and Bersatu. – June 18, 2017.