ANWAR Ibrahim said the Port Dickson by-election should not be problematic for PKR as a consensus was reached among the party leaders as early as January that he should return to parliament as soon as he was released from jail.

Speaking to Channel News Asia tonight, the PKR president-elect said he took his time after he was released before announcing his intention to contest a by-election.

“I wanted to get things back in order in the family, visit the states to thank them and visit friends overseas.

“That is what I did for four months and now the focus is on parliamentary reform and getting to know the other MPs.”

PKR said Anwar will contest the Port Dickson parliamentary seat after former senior naval officer and MP Danyal Balagopal Abdullah vacated the seat.

The decision did not go well with various quarters who felt that Anwar was in a hurry to become prime minister.

Danyal also came under fire from the National Patriots Association (Patriot) who alleged that he had betrayed the trust of voters.

“I am not particularly concerned with the timeline (of taking over from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad ) as my rapport with him is excellent,” he said. 

“Dr Mahathir has only been in office for four months. We must let him continue with his task which is challenging now. 

“It’s a major task to dismantle the remnants of the old regime, the endemic corruption. It’s not the time to speak when I will assume office.”

Anwar said Dr Mahathir has shown to be consistent and now it was his duty to support him, adding that the current government has the total support of all the coalition partners. – September 18, 2018.