PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad said his personal views about Anwar Ibrahim will not stand in the way of a succession plan agreed to by Pakatan Harapan.
The prime minister told CNN that he had to eventually let go of his present post.
“I have to trust him whether I like it or not. I can’t be here all the time,” he said.
Mahathir, whose dramatic sacking of Anwar in 1998 sparked the reformasi movement, made peace with his former deputy in 2016, and both men became part of the coalition that brought down Barisan Nasional in the recent polls.
Under a deal by the PH leadership, Anwar will succeed Mahathir as prime minister.
The PKR leader is currently running for the president’s post in party elections next month.
Mahathir, who in the past said he could remain as prime minister for two years, said he could stay longer in the post if coalition partners wanted him to.
“If the condition for us working together is my serving as prime minister for two years or three years, for me that is not important.
“I will abide by the wishes of the people,” Mahathir told the channel.
In an interview with Al Jazeera in May, Anwar said he had “no reason not to trust” Mahathir as the latter had proven his mettle and facilitated his release. — FMT
‘No new contender for PKR presidency, Anwar sole runner for now’
To date, no other candidates have emerged to take on Anwar Ibrahim for the post of party president in the upcoming party polls, says PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
“As of now, the only one who has confirmed (running for president) is Anwar Ibrahim,” he told Malaysiakini and Bernama today after launching the Malaysia International Retail & Franchise Exhibition 2018 in Kuala Lumpur.
Saifuddin, who is also minister of domestic trade and consumer affairs, said he would be travelling to Turkey tomorrow to meet with the de facto PKR leader in order to complete the latter’s nomination form.
Anwar is currently in Turkey seeking treatment for lumbar central stenosis, a condition whereby the central spinal canal narrows and compresses, as well as for a slipped disc, and has already undergone several surgeries.
“As he is overseas, the process of completing the nomination forms must be arranged.
“Coincidentally, I will be visiting him tomorrow in Turkey and so I will discuss with him his preparations for participating in the coming elections,” Saifuddin said.
It was previously reported that current party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has said she would step aside should Anwar, who is also her husband, decide to contest the top post.
Even so, she had stated that she would remain deputy prime minister and Pakatan Harapan president.
Meanwhile, incumbent deputy PKR president Mohamed Azmin Ali has stated that he was leaving it up to party members to decide whether the position of PKR de facto leader should be retained.
Saifuddin, meanwhile, said today that he would not be discussing the issue of the de facto leader’s post with Anwar during their meeting, but that it would be discussed at a later time.
While the PKR polls are set to take place in August, Saifuddin said state-level nominations would begin from July 29.
He said: “So far, the election schedule is proceeding smoothly and the nominations for Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Sarawak will take place at the end of this week.
“This will be followed by other states in the subsequent weeks.”
Saifuddin added that the secretary-general’s office would no longer have anything more to do with the polls, as the entire election process would be overseen by the party’s election committee, led by Rashid Din, from this point on. – MKINI
FMT / MKINI
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