KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 — Datuk Seri Azmin Ali needs to concentrate more on his job as economic affairs minister, PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today after the former took a veiled swipe at his daughter.
Anwar also backed Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar over her recent decisions to protest the conduct of the Pakatan Harapan government, saying she was at least courageous enough to stand up for her beliefs.
“I think he (Azmin) needs to also cool himself a bit; I think he should always focus on central issues.
“There are people who want to protect principles and ideals; (then) there are people who just set out to defend their position all costs,” he said pointedly.
Nurul Izzah resigned from Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee last week in objection to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s initial refusal to replace PPBM’s Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee as chairman.
PH pledged in its election manifesto to reserve the role for the Opposition.
She subsequently announced plans to leave politics after her current term, citing disillusionment with the PH administration.
Azmin, who is Anwar’s deputy in PKR, then sent a thinly-veiled tweet suggesting that Nurul Izzah lacked fortitude.
This country needs doers who are prepared to tough it out all the way, not cry babies. Whatever it takes, we must make it work. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
— Mohamed Azmin Ali (@AzminAli) March 24, 2019
While Azmin did not call out Nurul Izzah directly, allies and rivals alike interpreted his message as aimed at her.
The dispute has added to another row within PH stemming from Nurul Izzah’s description of Dr Mahathir as a “former dictator” during an interview with Singaporean news outlet The Straits Times.
