ON 2ND ANNIVERSARY OF PAKATAN’S HISTORIC, GRAND DEFEAT OF UMNO HEGEMONY – MAHATHIR & ANWAR ISSUE JOINT STATEMENT – BUT TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE, NO ONE TO BLAME BUT PKR, DAP & AMANAH FOR TRUSTING DR M & REFUSING TO CHASTISE AZMIN CARTEL – WHILE MUHYIDDIN HAPPILY BACKSTABBED THEM WITH OR WITHOUT DR M’S TACIT NOD

VOTERS should reclaim their mandate that has been seized by the Muhyiddin Yassin government, said PKR president Anwar Ibrahim and Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad

In a joint statement, they said the current government was not chosen by voters in the last general election and effort should be made to return the mandate to the rightful party.

“Two years ago, the people of all religions and races helped PH through donations and contributions, their voices and suggestions, hope and spirit, to see change for the better in our beloved country.

“Two years ago, we did not give up in championing the people’s voice and it remains the same today and it still burns in every youth who dreams of reform.

“The time has come for us to rise again and return the people’s mandate to the rightful party,” they said in the joint statement today marking the the second anniversary of the election that saw PH sweep to power.

Anwar and Dr Mahathir said they were not ready to sacrifice ethical and moral concerns to support the new government that is now headed by Muhyiddin.

“This government is premised on greed for positions only. Not one of its leaders have promised to serve the public,” said the two leaders.  

“We do not wish to betray the trust of millions of voters who spent hours waiting for their turn vote and spent money to return to vote or those who took leave to vote in the last elections. 

“The hard work of building a democracy was just beginning with Dewan Rakyat given a new breath of life and the reform of institutions and government starting afresh. 

“The voices of voters were being heard with states being given equal treatment despite political differences,” they said.

They said that one of the best gifts in the past 2 years was the freedom of expression.

“When people spoke up, their representative responded and nobody was stopped from speaking up on the basis of law.

“But these reforms, which were started by PH, have since stopped after the voters’ mandate was betrayed and the PH government was overturned in February.

“The current government is prepared to do anything to consolidate its power by dishing out positions,” said Anwar and Dr Mahathir.

In 2018, Malaysians of different religions and race had come together to defeat Barisan Nasional, said the two.

“They set aside their personal differences to end a kleptocratic government.

“So, let us not forget May 9, 2018, when a kleptocratic government fell. It was the day of victory for Malaysians and a day a new Malaysia was born,” said Anwar and Dr Mahathir.

The Pakatan government fell on Feb 25 after Muhyiddin took Bersatu out of the coalition.

Against Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir’s wishes, Muhyiddin subsequently garnered support from Barisan Nasional, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak MPs to become the new prime minister to form the Perikatan Nasional government.

Anwar takes swipe at reporter trying to ‘intentionally provoke’ enmity

Anwar Ibrahim says he is compelled to speak out against a reporter who seeks to ‘intentionally provoke’ animosity between him and Dr Mahathir Mohamad. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, May 9, 2020.

THERE is no enmity between Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim as alleged in The Star.

The PKR president said this, calling the publication an “MCA mouthpiece” and singling out the reporter Joceline Tan.

Anwar said he did not normally talk about journalists but this was “too much”.

“We know that she is a Star spokesperson but recently she (in her report) intentionally provoked enmity between me and Dr Mahathir.

“But it is factually incorrect as pointed out by Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil,” said Anwar this morning on Facebook live.

“The decision to make me the Opposition Leader was made in March before we informed parliament on April 30.”

PKR secretary-general a Saifuddin Nasution informed the House on April 30 while Dr Mahathir filed a motion for a confidence vote in the prime minister, and Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal filed for for a motion of support for Dr Mahathir on May 4, he added.

Therefore, my appointment as Opposition Leader was not aimed at thwarting Dr Mahathir, said Anwar.

The Malaysian Insight reported on April 28 that PH had picked Anwar to be Opposition Leader.

“My appointment was already made known to a number of people but we didn’t announce it immediately as we wanted to inform more people privately first,” Anwar said.

“As such, I want to advise netizens and social media users to be more circumspect when they read reports and to learn to distinguish between fact, libel and propaganda.

“And understand who the paymasters of the writers are. I hope this is a lesson to all.”

THE MALAYSIAN INSIGHT