MoU with govt one of my proudest moments, says PKR sec-gen

 

PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail says the MoU with the government was the ‘right thing to do’ and led to economic and parliamentary reforms.

PETALING JAYA: PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has described Pakatan Harapan’s memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Putrajaya as one of the proudest moments of his political career.

According to Saifuddin, the MoU with Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s government had even given him greater “political satisfaction” than PH defeating Barisan Nasional to form the federal government in 2018.

“(The MoU) gave me the highest satisfaction, personally, not because I sat on the MoU’s committee, but because I was involved in doing the right thing,” he said in an interview with Sinar Harian.

“It wasn’t easy. Within (PKR) itself, there were some who disagreed (with the MoU). Even within PH, there were differences of opinion, what more the people?”

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The Kulim Bandar Baharu MP pointed out that the MoU with the government, signed in September 2021, had led to parliamentary and economic reforms.

Most recently, the Dewan Rakyat passed the much-awaited anti-hopping bill, one of the key points of the MoU, which is expected to be enforced by September.

Saifuddin maintained that “doing the right thing” was what made him proud as a politician.

He also said one of his lowest points in politics was when the opposition coalition, then known as Pakatan Rakyat, had tried to file a no-confidence motion against Abdullah Ahmad Badawi after the 2008 general election.

He said they believed they had the numbers, adding that PKR president Anwar Ibrahim had met the late PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang over the matter.

“I saw how Hadi rejected taking part (in the no-confidence motion). He said PAS could not do so, but Nik Aziz agreed with what Anwar wanted to do.

“At that point in time, Anwar was at a crossroads. If he went ahead, PAS would split (with Pakatan Rakyat). So, he decided not to go ahead with the motion.

“My disappointment is not that (Anwar) didn’t get to be in that position (as prime minister), but because we failed to reach a consensus among those we had considered close partners at the time,” he said. - FMT