Anwar: Nothing personal against Dr M, we can agree on issues

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim today said he does not have anything personal against disputed Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said this when asked if the disagreement between the two men were a hurdle to a united opposition and whether they can ever reconcile.

“As far as I am concerned, I look at it (in terms of) issues of policies and the reform agenda.

“Anyone, including Mahathir, if we can agree, then we will proceed and there is no problem. Nothing personal here,” Anwar said.

He was speaking to reporters after attending a Pakatan Harapan pre-Parliament meeting held at a hotel in Shah Alam today.

Mahathir and Warisan were absent from the meeting, which started around 3.30pm and lasted about an hour.

Anwar said the meeting was a Harapan affair and an informal meeting was already held with Mahathir's group.

“There was a meeting representing us, in an informal session with Warisan and Mahathir’s faction of Bersatu and these matters were discussed, that they will jointly support the opposition’s position.

“But this is considered purely a Harapan event and they are not in Harapan, but then there is a cordial working relationship,” he added.

This after sources within Mahathir group claiming that Anwar did invite them through a letter to Mukhriz but they did not turn up.

They held a separate meeting in Klang Valley earlier today and also met DAP and Amanah yesterday in PKR's absence.

Despite the disagreements, Anwar was confident that Harapan, Warisan and Mahathir's bloc will put up a united front on the issue of the Dewan Rakyat motion to remove Speaker Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof and Deputy Speaker Nga Kor Ming.

The motion, which is expected to be tabled tomorrow, will have Ariff and Nga (above) replaced with former Election Commission chairperson Azhar Azizan Harun and Pengerang MP Azalina Othman Said respectively.

Anwar said both blocs have solidly decided to vote against this motion, but he appealed other MPs to join them in retaining the current speaker and deputy speaker as well.

“This is a matter of principles and rule of law, this has never happened in Commonwealth history as well as our country’s history before.

“An appointment is only made when there is a vacancy or a speaker resigns.

“In our case, the performance of Ariff has been commendable in terms of reforms. There’s absolutely no basis to attempt to change mid-course.

“Therefore, I am appealing to MPs - other than Harapan which is solid and the opposition which has given the commitment to stand firm - to consider this to protect the sanctity of Parliament and also of national importance to support the existing speaker Ariff and deputy speaker Nga,” he said.

The motion to remove the speaker and deputy speaker was submitted by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

The vote on this motion is seen as a proxy for a confidence test for Muhyiddin as it will answer once and for all whether he commands the majority in the Dewan Rakyat.

Based on the seating arrangement in the May 18 one-day parliamentary sitting and the defection announcements since then, there should be three key blocs in Parliament currently - Perikatan Nasional (113 seats), Harapan (91 seats) and others (18 seats).

However, these numbers are not a definitive indication of Muhyiddin’s support level until a vote is called.

Even though there is a separate motion for both a no-confidence vote against Muhyiddin and a confidence vote for Muhyiddin, they are far down the list on the order paper and are unlikely to go to the floor as government matters take priority.

The motion of no-confidence was submitted by Mahathir before the May sitting while the motion of confidence was submitted by PAS in late June.

Anwar said the opposition does not think the no-confidence vote will be debated and as such, they will focus on the motion involving the speaker first. - Mkini