ANWAR Ibrahim today announced that he has withdrawn as prime minister candidate for Pakatan Harapan (PH) as the opposition coalition prepares for the coming elections.
This shock announcement comes as PH is embroiled in a leadership tussle over who will lead the coalition into GE14.
“Given the call to focus all over 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 today.
He said PH should now focus on the coming general election and all other side issues such as leadership and power struggles and verbal spats, should stop.
“All this friction is tiring, at the end of the day the decision is in the hands of the people during the general election,” Anwar said.
Anwar also said the tradition of negotiation and consensus decision making in Pakatan Rakyat should be retained in PH, with leaders from separate parties having the same standing while an appointed chairman functions as a coordinator.
The former deputy prime minister said equal participation from all leaders of the respective component parties was needed if PH is to consolidate its strength to take on BN.
“This includes the position and role of Tun (Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad). It is unwise to make any assumptions before the party leadership finalises its stand on the matter,” Anwar said.
He also commended Pakatan Harapan’s decision to stick to its consensus decision making model instead of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) suggestion to have its leaders take the position of chairman and president similar to BN’s structure.
PH component parties have been going back and forth regarding the line up of the coalition’s leadership leading into the 14th general election, causing delays to having the coalition registered formally.
Bersatu was also on the verge of leaving the coalition due to its indecisiveness, with PKR’s insistence on having Anwar be the prime minister-designate being a particularly thorny issue.
To break the stalemate, a source told The Malaysian Insight that Anwar had deferred the final decision on the leadership lineup to PKR’s political bureau, but the party had since denied the report. – June 17, 2017.
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Comments
Posted 6 years ago by Aravind Nair · Reply
What makes Anwar tick? It is his sound ideals, his moral fibre and integrity, his selflessness and his power of persuasion. It is through such leadership that he inspires mass following and forges unity.
Coming back to the current Pakatan Harapan power structure. What makes anyone think that it must officially name a PM designate or a supreme leader to lead the alliance as a pre-requisite to winning GE 14?
Didn’t Pakatan Rakyat win the majority vote in GE 13 without officially naming a supreme leader or a PM-designate?
Anwar is right, Pakatan Harapan must continue to work on the success formula of Pakatan Rakyat. Consensus and equality and mutual respect among the component parties. Stop talking about PM-designate or supreme leader. Sweep aside selfish and parochial interests and focus only on winning GE 14, and success will await us.
Posted 6 years ago by Kim quek · Reply
one can talk about transparency and accountability and justice until the cows come home, but in the end , it all boils down to how many good men you have on your side.
We all know that the govt doesnt have that many good ppl on its side, but is the opposition any better ? i dont know.
Posted 6 years ago by Nehru Sathiamoorthy · Reply