No consensus yet but Anwar best candidate for PM, says PKR man

PKR leaders Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (left) and Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak want Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister candidate.

PETALING JAYA: PKR central leadership council member Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad today denied speculation that Pakatan Harapan has decided on its candidate for prime minister, but suggested his president Anwar Ibrahim as the best candidate.

“For now, Pakatan Harapan has not achieved consensus on the issue of the 9th prime minister. It is not fair to force Anwar Ibrahim to accept Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the 9th PM, more so with what he has gone through before this,” he said on Facebook.

The Setiawangsa MP also commented on Mahathir’s “record“ in the issue of passing over his premiership, which had caused instability when PH ruled as government of the day.

He took a jab at Mahathir by placing part of the blame on him for the political crisis that ensued after the “Sheraton Move”, where he shockingly resigned without discussing it with the party.

“Malaysia needs a new start – a clean government focused on an economy that is fairer and equitable for all the rakyat. The best candidate is Anwar Ibrahim,” he said.

Nik Nazmi’s comments come after a wave of speculation over who PH will propose as its prime ministerial candidate.

Previously, FMT quoted sources as saying that PH was set to bring back Mahathir as its prime ministerial candidate, this time with Anwar as his deputy, despite them struggling to show that they enjoyed “the numbers” among MPs in the Dewan Rakyat.

FMT learned that coalition leaders had met at least twice at a hotel in downtown Kuala Lumpur since the meeting of PH top brass at the PKR headquarters last Tuesday where it was indicated that a prime ministerial candidate would be announced in a week’s time.

State stand on Anwar, DAP and Amanah urged

Meanwhile, Perak PKR chief Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak called the action and statements by DAP and Amanah, which refused to stand behind Anwar, “disheartening“.

Farhash, who is also Anwar’s political secretary, urged the two parties to state their stand on supporting Anwar as PH’s prime minister candidate.

He agreed with the statement by DAP’s Loke Siew Fook that there needed to be a clear direction in the way forward for PH

“For PKR, it means that we will never let Anwar and Malaysians to be taken for a ride ever again,” he said.

Loke recently told Malaysiakini that Pakatan Harapan Plus will be naming Mahathir as its prime minister candidate and Anwar as deputy. - FMT