ANWAR Ibrahim said the focus of the government must be on strengthening the economy and not on individuals seeking support to build their political power bases.

“There are corrupt deals in politics. There are people who fear for the own positions therefore there has been a lot of dealings among the political elite,” he said in Shah Alam today.

“But I am not concerned about that. I am more concerned about the need to stabilise the politics of this country so that we remain focused on the economy.

“People are having problems, struggling to have a decent livelihood.”

 He said this when asked to comment on the rumoured PAS efforts to form a backdoor government with Umno and Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s Bersatu.

Some of Anwar’s rivals from PKR are said to be also involved in the scheme.

The PKR president said PAS needed to plot another path to power after losing miserably in the last general election.

“The intention is to cause disarray in Pakatan Harapan. I am in communications with PH leaders, it seems that we are intact,” he said.

He said prime minister Dr Mahathir has agreed with him that the focus of the government should be on the economy.

“This must be central for the government in power right now.

“I have said this to the prime minister in private and I appreciate the fact that he accepts the fact that the whole focus of the government must be the economy.”

Earlier today, Bank Negara said that the Malaysian economy had expanded by a mere 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2019, dragging the full-year gross domestic product (GDP) growth down to 4.3%, the lowest since the 2009 financial crisis, amid supply disruptions in the commodity sector.

Bank Negara governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus said GDP growth for 2019 would have been higher at 4.7% without the disruptions. In 2018, the GDP growth rate was 4.7%.

She added that the Covid-19 outbreak was expected to affect Malaysia’s GDP growth for Q1 2020, depending on how the virus spread and evolved.

Meanwhile, Anwar said he was not aware of any attempts to collect statutory declarations (SD) for members of parliament to garner support for Dr Mahathir.

“I have not been informed.”

It was reported today that the SDs were being collected to ensure Dr Mahathir remains as prime minister. – February 12, 2020.