Anwar or let Muhy continue
Published on: Friday, July 03, 2020
Chua
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah PKR Vice Chairman Kenny Chua became the first to break ranks with his colleagues within the Warisan-led State Government to state that he is firmly behind party president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim being the country’s next Prime Minister if Perikatan Nasional can be unseated. He said although Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal has been nominated for the post by former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, his mind has never been divided between his party president and his boss in the state government because the “rakyat” had been promised that Anwar would take over as Prime Minister in the last general election.
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Shafie
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“This is my personal opinion. I fully respect Shafie as our Chief Minister. But as a party man, my loyalty is for my president who, in the minds of the ‘rakyat’ who voted for us against Umno and the Barisan Nasional in the last general election, was promised to be the next Prime Minister.
“A promise is a promise and we must honour it. How would the ‘rakyat’ judge us if we don’t deliver what we have promised? I do believe that they expect us to be leaders with the highest integrity and honesty. They expect us to be men and women who are always true to our words,” he said. Warisan, DAP and Upko have all declared unanimous support for Shafie. Sabah PKR Youth also said all should wait for a joint decision by PH-Plus.
The disagreement within Pakatan Harapan-Plus (PKR, Amanah, DAP, Upko and Warisan) on who should be PM stems from a long-standing distrust between Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his former deputy, Anwar.
Anwar
Prior to GE14, it had been agreed that Anwar, who is the Port Dickson Member of Parliament, would be the eighth prime minister, replacing Dr Mahathir, who would serve as interim Prime Minister, should the coalition win.
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But the last few months saw a dramatic change in the country’s political landscape with the collapse of Pakatan Harapan. This led to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia President Tan Sri Muhyddin Yassin becoming Prime Minister.
Recently, Dr Mahathir announced that he backed Warisan President Shafie for Prime Minister with Anwar and his (Mahathir’s) son Datuk Mukhriz being Deputy PMs.
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Chua said whatever the political game being played, there are more important matters for political leaders to attend to.
“I don’t think this is the time to be obsessed about who should be Prime Minister. To me, Pakatan Harapan had promised the people that Anwar would become Prime Minister. Just fulfil it. Or else, let Muhyiddin serve until the next general election and when that time comes, we go back to the people to choose who deserves to be Prime Minister. Plain and simple,” he said.
According to Chua, who is also Sabah Assistant Finance Minister, the nation and Sabah in particular are already bogged down with too many unresolved issues that deserve immediate action.
“We’re still fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. Our economy is not very good and is affecting people’s jobs and livelihood.
“Then we still have unresolved issues in Sabah like illegal immigrants. The government has said the IMM13 is the most appropriate single document to solve this long-standing problem. But until now, there’s no clarity how this is so.”Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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