Treacherous, but not personal - Anwar on ex-deputy Azmin

Despite all that has happened, PKR President Anwar Ibrahim says he harbours no hard feelings for former deputy Azmin Ali.

Back in 1998, Anwar and Azmin were allies who founded the party together.

Over the years, their relationship deteriorated significantly and this split the party in two.

In February this year, Azmin helped engineer a political coup deemed the “Sheraton Move” to deny Anwar the chance to be the eighth prime minister and to dissolve the Pakatan Harapan government.

Azmin later quit PKR to join Bersatu and has since ascended to become a senior minister in the Perikatan Nasional administration.

Asked in an interview this morning if he was upset at Azmin, Anwar deemed the former’s actions “treacherous” but said he did not take the betrayal to heart.

“I have been in politics for a long time, I have taken the blows.

“To me, it’s just not personal,” he told radio station BFM.

Party to decide successor

Anwar was also asked if PKR had a succession plan in place.

The 72-year-old said he will leave it to the party to decide who will replace him.

“That will have to be decided by the party, not by me. I’m not the divine incarnate of (some) sort (to be) designating my successor. We should allow the team to decide and evolve from there,” he said.

Anwar gave a similar response when pressed if PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution or his daughter, Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, were potential candidates.

“Nurul Izzah is certainly only focusing on Permatang Pauh,” he said.  - Mkini