PETALING JAYA: Those vying to be the prime minister cannot communicate how they intend to control the rising cost of goods and instead have to resort to false narratives and fearmongering, says PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.
“What is their message? Can they explain economic policies? No. How (are they going to) bring changes that can control the prices of goods? Nothing.
“All they can talk about is DAP, PKR, Israel, the Jews, and that the Chinese are in control. That is all they can say in the kampungs, and some of the people believe it,” Anwar said at a Pakatan Harapan (PH) event in Pahang last night.
He said whoever held the position of prime minister must have the ability to draw attention to the fact that Malaysia has the potential to become an “Asian tiger economy”.
Anwar also welcomed a debate among the “prime minister candidates”.
“Let’s have a debate together. Have a debate on economic policies, political stability, any topic, so that the rakyat can evaluate,” he said.
He said there were three potential candidates to be the prime minister, “Ismail Sabri (Yaakob), Muhyiddin Yassin and I”, and was unsure if Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi would be included in that list.
On claims that he was not suitable to be a prime minister candidate after receiving a royal pardon, Anwar pointed out that he had “never requested” the pardon.
“I’m not Najib,” he said, referring to former prime minister Najib Razak’s reported petition for a royal pardon. “On the day we (PH) won, that night the Yang di-Pertuan Agong called me to say that he would use his powers to pardon me, as he was sure what I had gone through was a travesty of justice.”
Anwar was jailed for sodomy and corruption in 1999. He was jailed for sodomy again in 2014.
