KUALA LUMPUR: PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (pix) today said he had never proposed to be a member of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, despite a possible imminent reshuffle of ministerial portfolios.
He said he is prepared to wait until it is time for him to assume office as the eighth prime minister.
“I am bound by the consensus and I have never proposed to join the Cabinet because the understanding and consensus reached in PH (Pakatan Harapan) is that PM (Dr Mahathir) will be the prime minister and (Datuk Seri Dr) Wan Azizah (Wan Ismail) will be the deputy prime minister until my turn to take over,” he said.
He spoke at a press conference after the Parliamentary Reform and Governance Caucus at Parliament House.
Anwar, who is the MP for Port Dickson, was commenting on Dr Mahathir’s statement yesterday that there is no vacancy for Anwar to join the Cabinet at this time.
Asked whether PKR will emulate its coalition ally Bersatu in taking action against anyone who taints the party with predictions that PH will be defeated in the next general election, Anwar said his party does not take such action.
This is because PKR is a party that is democratic in expressing views.
“In PKR, we give more room for the expressing of views. So, there is no action against PKR leaders who do that,” he said, adding that they will study the views expressed by allies.
Asked about the three letters PKR vice-president Zuraida Kamaruddin has sent to him to hold discussions on PKR issues, Anwar said a reply has been sent to one of the letters.
Replies will be sent to the two other letters by PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, he added.
Anwar reminded Zuraida, who is the Housing and Local Government Minister, to attend every meeting of the party so that issues can be discussed then.
“We have a forum, we have a weekly political bureau meeting and a monthly Central Leadership Council meeting. Please do attend,” he said.
Asked to comment on Zuraida’s statement that fate will determine whether Anwar will be the prime minister or not, Anwar said: “Life and death ... all depends on fate. (Becoming) a minister, not being a minister, marriage partners, all depend on destiny. So, I believe in destiny.” - Bernama
