‘Free Najib’ group dragged PH into Johor election, says Anwar

 The Pakatan Harapan chairman says there was no reason for the state polls to be called early.

Anwar Ibrahim said Pakatan Harapan decided to take part in the elections to ensure political stability through collaboration between state and federal governments.

LEDANG:

Anwar Ibrahim tonight claimed that Pakatan Harapan was dragged into the Johor election by certain parties who wanted to return to power in order to free former prime minister Najib Razak from his jail sentence.

Anwar, who is PH chairman, said there was no reason for the state election to be called early. “But we know that these parties feel they are strong enough to come back to power and free Najib. Which is why PH was dragged into this election,” he said at a ceramah in Serom here.

He said PH decided to take part in the polls to ensure political stability through collaboration between state and federal governments.

On Friday night, Najib’s son Nazifuddin had claimed that a major Barisan Nasional victory in Johor would signal that the people continued to support Najib and hoped to see him receive a royal pardon.

However, BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has denied that BN was making use of Najib’s case during the polls campaign. He said “it isn’t an issue in Johor” and that any question of a pardon for Najib lay with the prerogative of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Najib, 72, is serving a six-year prison sentence in the SRC International case. His jail sentence is scheduled to end on Aug 23, 2028.

Anwar questioned the date set for polling, saying that holding the election in the middle of the month was risky as it made it difficult for out-of-state voters to return home to cast their ballots.

“This election (date) makes it difficult for people to vote. But this is the reality,” he said. He noted that voter turnout for state polls was generally low as those working abroad were reluctant to return.

On a separate matter, Anwar said he was prepared to step down as prime minister if his successor could do a better job, by ending corruption and by not pilfering the country’s coffers

He said if the country aimed to be “number one,” it must be led by good leaders and not thieves.

Anwar also reminded certain leaders not to be arrogant by refusing to work with DAP because it was a Chinese party. “Isn’t MCA a Chinese party?” he said. - FMT