AMPANG, Oct 28 — PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim admitted tonight that it had been a tough decision to drop several MPs, who have been close friends for decades, from the party’s line-up of general election (GE15) candidates.

He stressed, however, that this had to be done for the good of the party and the future of the country.

As a result, he said all candidates must be humble and work hard to gain the confidence of their prospective constituents.

"It was not easy dropping several MPs who have been loyal and close friends for decades and replacing them with new people who are untested.

"I want to remind everyone not to get ahead of themselves. Tawaduk (be humble) and learn. Always work as hard as you can,” he said in his speech before announcing the party’s 72 GE15 candidates for peninsular Malaysia here tonight.

Anwar also took a swipe at Barisan Nasional (BN) and PAS, saying they had failed the people over the rising cost of living which was not proportional to wage increases.

Using the nationwide shortage of eggs as an example of rising prices, Anwar said both entities were out of solutions.

"What about eggs? Did the price of eggs go up or down? What eggs are we even talking about? There are no eggs at all.

"This country gained independence decades ago, yet we don’t even have eggs now. The same goes for Umno, BN and PAS. They don’t even have their own ‘eggs’,” Anwar said.

The former deputy prime minister said PKR and Pakatan Harapan (PH) would prioritise the people’s issues in their GE15 campaigns.

He urged PH machinery to focus on issues related to the cost of living, corruption, misappropriation and oppression to ensure its electoral journey leads to Putrajaya next month.

"We want a government that can take care of issues that are causing distress to the public and we must stop all of these problems from haunting them.

"Remember the Movement Control Order? Which country had the longest-ever MCO period? Us.

"The government then proudly said it had managed to resolve Covid-19. Hey, people couldn’t even eat and yet you feel proud? ‘Podah’,” he said.

PKR announced tonight the seats that it would contest in the peninsula, along with their respective candidates. Similar announcements for Sabah and Sarawak are slated for next week.

In a surprise move, incumbent PKR MPs Maria Chin Abdullah (Petaling Jaya), Datuk Johari Abdul (Sungai Petani), R. Sivarasa (Sungai Buloh), June Leow (Hulu Selangor), Chan Ming Kai (Alor Setar) and Datin Paduka Tan Yee Kew (Wangsa Maju) will not be defending their seats in GE15.

Also not standing for re-election in his constituency of Gopeng is former deputy health minister Dr Lee Boon Chye who has retired.