PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has asserted that DAP has never questioned the initiatives implemented for the Malays and Muslims and the underprivileged during their Cabinet meetings over the past seven months.
Anwar said chief secretary Zuki Ali can attest to this fact.
“It’s not that I want to defend my DAP friends, but they’ve been in the Cabinet for seven months with the presence of the chief secretary,” he said in a speech at a book launch here today.
“Not once have they questioned such programmes in the past seven months. So I don’t want to punish or blame them (DAP).”
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed yesterday that DAP’s 40 MPs could cause the government to collapse by withdrawing their support for Anwar’s administration.
For that reason, Mahathir said, Anwar is compelled to adhere to DAP’s manifesto, which aims to transform Malaysia into a secular and multi-ethnic nation by replacing Islam as the official religion.
In response, Anwar took a veiled jab at Mahathir, saying he was no one’s “puppet” and could not be “bought over with money”.
He also questioned why Mahathir was deflecting the blame for the stagnation of the economic situation of the Malays on others.
“If you failed (to address the issue) back then during your many years as a leader, then it’s your fault,” he said.
“Why demand a resolution of all the problems within a mere seven months, especially considering there is a national debt of RM1.5 trillion?”
