Back Anwar for PM, Farhash urges opposition allies

 

Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak said it was crucial for the party and its allies to regroup behind Anwar Ibrahim.

KUALA LUMPUR: Any party wishing to cooperate with PKR must back Anwar Ibrahim as the opposition’s prime ministerial candidate, said Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak.

The former Perak PKR chief said it was crucial for the party and its allies to regroup behind Anwar, especially after damaging defeats in the Johor, Sarawak and Melaka state elections.

“Within Pakatan Harapan, it’s not changed; Anwar is still the sole candidate for prime minister. Other parties which want to work with us have to subscribe to this.

“We have to regroup behind Anwar, all of us as one voice, and believe in his leadership. If we are one voice, the public will get our message,” he said in an interview with FMT.

Farhash said he believed PKR and its partners in PH – Amanah and DAP – were strong enough forces to head into the next general election (GE15).

He stressed that any further cooperation with other opposition parties had to be studied thoroughly and must take into account the views of the grassroots.

PKR president Anwar had previously called on PH to engage with all opposition parties ahead of the Johor polls, while earlier this month party secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the coalition was ready to discuss cooperation with any party ahead of GE15.

However, not all opposition parties outside of PH agree to Anwar being the prime ministerial candidate, with Warisan president Shafie Apdal recently saying the people wanted a change of leadership.

Winning mentality

On GE15, Farhash said PKR had to enter the elections with nothing less than a winning mentality.

“Don’t be disheartened by talk (that) we won’t be able to win the next two elections. Politics is so fluid and changes by the day, (so) don’t raise the white flag,” he said, dismissing recent claims by Nurul Izzah Anwar that PH would need at least 10 more years or two more general elections before retaking the federal government.

He added that both PKR and PH must be in touch with the grassroots and voters in order to understand the sentiment on the ground and strengthen their chances ahead of GE15.

Commenting on the coming PKR elections, he said it was a necessary step to clean up the party and fill the leadership void left after the Sheraton Move in 2020, when Azmin Ali, then deputy president, and his allies left PKR to help form a new government under Perikatan Nasional.

Farhash said the current party elections were a means for PKR to regroup and come back stronger.

“There is a big leadership void, we don’t have a deputy president, we don’t have a lot of vice-presidents and there are even vacancies in some divisions.”

It is crucial to fill up the key leadership positions in order for PKR to face GE15 in the best shape possible, he said. - FMT