KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Opposition chief, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said upholding Bahasa Melayu as the national language required the commitment of all members of society.

As such, he regards the views that the efforts to uphold Bahasa Melayu would undermine and weaken the mastery of English as very wide off the mark.

"The mastery of a language, be it Chinese, English, Arabic, French or Tamil should be encouraged starting with Bahasa Melayu as the axis and a priority.”

He said this to reporters after the launching of the combo book, 65 Years of Independence by National Laureate A. Samad Said at the Kuala Lumpur International Book Festival today.

Meanwhile, Anwar, who is also the Port Dickson Member of Parliament, said he fully supported the government’s move to abolish the mandatory death sentence.

"I certainly support that as the current laws force the judges to punish the guilty without a choice.

"But this amendment will give more room to the judges to consider the facts, the law and evidence in meting out the sentences,” he said.

On Friday, the government stated that it agreed to abolish the mandatory death penalty in the country, with substitute sentences subject to the discretion of the court. — Bernama