SHAH ALAM: Anwar Ibrahim today sought to calm down his supporters’ anger over the perceived delay in his appointment as the eighth prime minister, saying a specific date for him to take over from Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be set later.
The PKR president said that Pakatan Harapan leaders had agreed that the date would not be stated in public as it could undermine the current prime minister.
Anwar said that he did not see the absence of a specific date as a problem.
“But it won’t stop people from speculating,” he told reporters after addressing UiTM students here.
At a forum in New York recently, Mahathir said he would step down in three years at most.
The remarks did not go down well with some PKR leaders, including former deputy president Syed Husin Ali who attacked Mahathir, accusing him of trying to derail Anwar’s ascension to power.
Anwar had earlier told Bloomberg in an interview that he expected to take over from Mahathir in 2020.
Asked today if he expected Mahathir to step down by that time, Anwar said:
“We will set the date later.”
Anwar said that there is a clear understanding of the transition plan “except for a specific date”.
When asked to comment on Syed Husin expressing doubts that Mahathir would keep his promise of handing over the reins to Anwar, the Port Dickson MP said that was his “personal view”.
“I would say that, overall, his statement is to remind us of our responsibility to make sure that the reform agenda does not derail,” he said, adding that to Mahathir’s credit, he has done his best in “this period of transition”.
When asked if a time frame was needed to be set to allay the uncertainty and anxiety among the business community, Anwar said there shouldn’t be any anxiety.
“Even when I assume the premiership, the broad policies of PH, will remain.”
On being stymied by Dr M
Anwar also rubbished Syed Husin’s claim that PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu have had their wings clipped.
He said that in his private sessions with Mahathir, he had expressed his views on various issues and the prime minister had been kind enough to listen to them.
“To suggest that the reform agenda is derailed may not be entirely true, but it is okay for an elder statesman like Syed Husin to ensure we keep our idealism intact.”
On the GST
On Mahathir’s statement that Putrajaya will consider reinstating the goods and services tax (GST) if the “people wanted it”, Anwar said that the prime minister wanted to study the implications of the system.
Mahathir, Anwar said, wanted to compare the effectiveness of the sales and services tax (SST) with the GST.
“My personal view is that we have to study this carefully because our position has always been to review the whole taxation policy and not to be tied essentially to GST.
“But I think a study is required.” - FMT
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