YES NURUL DEAR, ANWAR WOULD HAVE MADE A ‘WONDERFUL PM’ – BUT ONCE UPON A TIME …

KUALA LUMPUR – Nurul Izzah Anwar believes that her father, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, will make a “wonderful prime minister”.

Her father, said the PKR vice-president, taught her everything she needed to know about democracy and diversity.

Anwar, she said, set up PKR and shifted the focus from a race-based to needs-based approach.

“He did all that, and that’s the value of having someone who can help build a more compassionate Malaysia,” she told the New Straits Times Press in an exclusive interview recently.

Anwar was given a royal pardon from his five-year prison sentence following Pakatan Harapan’s victory in the 14th General Election. PH’s manifesto states that Anwar would be made prime minister within two years, at which point Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad would give way.

Nurul Izzah said she was “sick” of the debate over whether Dr Mahathir would make way for Anwar when the time comes, and said she chose to remain optimistic.

“I don’t think all these petty squabbles or further conspiratorial squabbles will have any effect. My father was just released (from prison). He was in captivity for a long time, more than 11 years of his life, so of course he needs time to absorb the situation and environment. Besides, he has pledged full support for the government and the prime minister.”

She likened the pledge in the PH manifesto to entering a marriage, or akad.

“For example, when there was talk about (her mother, PKR president) Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail being offered the prime minister’s post, we went back to our akad and said that we had promised that Dr Mahathir will be made the prime minister.

“So for me, whatever we do in our lives, our worth as a person depends on how much we value our agreement, promises and pledges.”

Nurul Izzah, when asked to comment on claims that there were three “camps” in PKR, replied that each party “has its own dynamics”.

While acknowledging the impact that Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad have had on the party’s development, she believed that there had to be greater understanding in the party.

“I think we need to inculcate a certain degree of understanding and that there are certain channels to follow through with internally in addressing certain issues.

“It’s a work in progress.”

She does not believe that the much-publicised conflict between Azmin and Rafizi is as serious as made out to be.

“I don’t know why people keep focusing on our factionalism, but I would put it this way: usually, on a mountain, there’s only one particular lion, but imagine if there are four lions on that same mountain.

“So that’s PKR for you. It’s nice, we roar very loudly.”

– NST