Selangor Sultan grants audience to Anwar, Azmin

SHAH ALAM: The Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, today granted an audience to PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali at Istana Bukit Kayangan here.
Anwar told reporters who approached him as he left the palace, that one of the topics of discussion was the candidate for Selangor mentri besar to take over from Mohamed Azmin, who has been appointed the Minister of Economic Affairs.
"We discussed the matter. It is almost resolved," he said.
Asked about the candidate with the potential to succeed Mohamed Azmin, Anwar said in jest: "It is a long list of candidates, scores (of candidates)."
Asked if the mentri besar could come from a party besides PKR, Anwar said the list was open to candidates from all the parties in Pakatan Harapan.
"… but in this regard, the candidate for mentri besar must be from the party with the majority in the State Legislative Assembly, in this case, PKR.
"Any qualified candidate can take over from him (Mohamed Azmin), but the candidate has not been decided on yet," he said.
The Sultan's private secretary, Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani, said in a statement yesterday that His Royal Highness had consented to have the new mentri besar sworn in on June 19.
Anwar also said that the state of the economy of Selangor and welfare issues were also discussed at today's audience.
"Tuanku (His Royal Highness) called for the empowerment of Bahasa Melayu and Islam and the maintenance of racial harmony," he said.
Following his full pardon and release from prison on May 16, Anwar has had an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Muhammad V; the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Almarhum Sultan Iskandar; and the Regent of Pahang, Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
Last Friday, Anwar accompanied his wife, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, at an audience at Istana Mahkota in Kota Baru with the Regent of Kelantan, Tengku Muhammad Faiz Petra, and the parents of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tengku Anis Tengku Abdul Hamid and Sultan Ismail Petra Almarhum Sultan Yahya Petra. — Bernama