PUTRAJAYA, Nov 25 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today said that it is not possible for the current government to solve all of the issues it has inherited from the previous administrations within a year.

Because of that, the government has had to focus on issues based on what should be given priority, said Anwar, who is also the finance minister and PKR president, in his speech at the 2023 PKR Annual National Congress.

"It is not possible for all of the problems to be solved in a year,” he said.

Anwar was sworn in as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister on November 24 last year.

Commenting on criticism that the unity government has been slow in implementing reform, he said that the ruling government has learnt from past mistakes such as when there were movements to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and Rome Statute international treaties.

He said that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government established after the 14th general elections (GE14) had experienced several mistakes, "not from the cabinet, but forced from above, because the elite wanted ICERD and the Rome Statute ratified in our country”.

"Were there discussions in the cabinet? No.

"Were there discussions with the Members of Parliament (MPs)? I was the Port Dickson MP. No,” he said.

Because force was involved without discussions, anxieties arose from lack of understanding, and the issue become then something for the opposition to exploit, he explained.

He added that if reformation is rushed, it will be rejected by the people.

Anwar officiated the PKR annual congress at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre tonight. The event was attended by leaders of PKR’s partners in the unity government: DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) president Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu, Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir, GRS chairman Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) secretary-general Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi.

According to PKR secretary-general Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, 46 foreign ambassadors were also in attendance, along with 2,400 delegates from 217 PKR branches and 1,500 observers.

The congress will be held this weekend with the theme ‘Memaknai Reformasi, Menjulang Madani’.