Opposition party PKR says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was offered the deputy prime minister’s post after the last general election, confirming what his daughter, Nurul Izzah, said yesterday. – February 17, 2015.
PKR today insisted that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was offered the position of deputy prime minister after the last general election, adding that the offer also came with four ministerial posts.
PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak made the offer as a move towards national reconciliation after the general election with Indonesian vice-president Muhammad Jusuf Kalla as the intermediary.
The offer to Anwar was revealed recently by his daugher Nurul Izzah at a talk in Penang.
Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin questioned the timing of what Nurul Izzah said, adding that she could not be believed.
“We (Barisan Nasional, or BN) were the majority in the last elections, so why offer the number two post to someone who had lost?” said Khairy, who is also Umno Youth chief.
Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan also tweeted: "BN offering DPM post to Anwar who lost all four GEs in a row? Nurul, get a grip of yourself! #Drama".
Rafizi today said the prime minister's offer to Anwar hinged on PKR breaking ranks with DAP and PAS.
"Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim brought this to the PKR and Pakatan Rakyat leadership.
"We decided and went back to Umno and said that any national reconciliation must include DAP and PAS as it was Pakatan that won 52% of the votes. So that is when everything crumbled," Rafizi said.
"Khairy can say whatever he likes, but I do not think Datuk Seri Najib Razak would have confided in him. In fact I do not think Najib discusses any of these delicate matters with Khairy or Rahman Dahlan. So they can blabber on Twitter all they want," he added.
Nurul Izzah told a crowd of about 1,000 people in Penang on Sunday that Anwar agreed to negotiate when Najib pressed for reconciliation after the 13th general election.
She had said her father set conditions that there must be efforts to tackle corruption in the federal government and address economic problems among others, but the talks eventually broke down.
Rafizi also expects that internal problems in Umno will only get bigger, now that Anwar is no longer in the picture.
"The test for Pakatan now is to ensure we continue to attack BN and Umno, and at the same time protect Anwar and remind the people of the injustice done to him and his family," he said.
He added that the challenge this time round was more than 1998 as it was enough to just highlight the injustice done to Anwar and his family.
"But, not anymore. The public will expect PKR and Pakatan Rakyat to continue to be the check-and-balance to push Umno and Barisan Nasional to a corner and, at the same time, to fight for the release of Anwar," he said.
He added that all important public issues would be jointly addressed by the three parties in Pakatan, like it was done prior to the 13th general election.
He said that PKR was committed to give full support to the leadership of Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Mohamed Azmin Ali as president and deputy president.
- TMI
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