KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pledged to be more mindful in curating the manifesto for the 15th general election (GE15).
In an interview with Malaysiakini, the PKR president said this time the aim is to make deliverable promises on important issues.
“Unfortunately, the previous manifesto did become quite an issue ... but my position is to give clear commitments on issues that we can deliver.
“Don’t make too many promises. I will do my best to ensure good governance. I can’t promise the sky, and I think that is honest,” he was quoted saying.
He said that although ideally they want to accommodate everyone, realistically, they had to agree on a core set of values of good governance.
“Parties and civil societies, everyone has their own agenda. We have to accommodate. But as a nation, they cannot expect us to accept every single demand of a certain group.
“We must at least agree on core issues of sustainability, governance, which include judicial independence and also anti-corruption,” he said.
The Port Dickson MP also said that there was a lot of cynicism and voter apathy among the people following the political turbulence in the last two years and that the present government was not addressing these issues.
“We now have leaders (who are) in a complete state of denial.
“The finance minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz stated that the declining ringgit is not an issue or concern. It’s absurd! I don’t know how he became a banker in the first place if this is the view he expressed, and is tolerated,” Anwar said.
In the interview, he also addressed being ridiculed after claiming he had the majority support of MPs.
He had revealed back in June that he had the support of 120 MPs, including 15 from Umno, to become prime minister in 2020. Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi were among the 15 Umno MPs.
He said the number was reduced after he declined to interfere in Najib’s corruption cases.
