PUTRAJAYA, Nov 26 — Prime Minister and PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today criticised his party’s members for dancing to the Opposition’s tune, saying they tend to panic when rivals play up issues such as race or religion.
In a fiery speech delivered to end this year’s congress, the PKR president said the government he leads has surpassed previous administrations with some of the most pro-people policies to date, which he argued should give members adequate ammunition to counter the criticisms of the Opposition.
“Why are you panicking?” he asked.
“That is why the leadership is saying look at the facts. If there are weaknesses, tell us. But I feel it is important we put forward Malay leaders who don’t loot public wealth, that is most important,” he said.
“If I was the one asked, as pointed out previously, that my government isn’t approved by the people I will tell them ‘Anwar what are you proud of?’ I would say, ‘alhamdullillah I am grateful I have monitored my Cabinet members’... and I will say, ‘never before in a year of a leadership that not a single member of the Cabinet is involved in cases of looting public money,’” he added.
“All procurement was done via tender and this is what analysts say is not important? Why is it that billions of ringgit being embezzled it’s not important?”
Anwar cited his policy to end hardcore poverty as an example. He said this was the first time an anti-poverty programme targeted all races yet PKR is still being accused of neglecting certain communities, including ethnic Indians who are among the country’s poorest communities.
He suggested PKR leaders appeared unable to respond to Indian Opposition leaders who use the issue against the party.
“I want to tell the Indian leaders of PKR, why are you so defensive? You don’t need to be apologetic because Indian political leaders shouted. I ask them when they were in power were they not involved in looting public money?” Anwar said.
“Please I’m telling you don’t dance to their tune, when people attack we (tremble) and go ‘eh what do we do?’” Anwar said.
“The facts show that when I say I’ve put an end to hardcore poverty — be it Iban, Bidayuh, Kadazan, Melanau, and even the Orang Asli — I want to tell them this government cares about each and every single Orang Asli family out there who are hardcore poor.
“If you ask me, this is the biggest message,” the PKR president added.
Anwar’s party is still facing a barrage of attacks from the Opposition especially on issues concerning race and religion, even after he secured a strong majority in Parliament to fend off any potential challenge to his leadership.
The Pakatan Harapan coalition Anwar leads retained all three states it governed in six state elections held in August, and his unity government defended all incumbent seats in several by-elections despite facing a galvanised opposition.
But the attacks have forced the ruling party to be on the defensive. At the party’s congress over the weekend, PKR leaders attempted to raise a sense of urgency among members about the need to counter the opposition with effective messaging.
The congress was also held just a day after Merdeka Center released its latest poll on Anwar’s approval rating, which dipped to its lowest level since the PKR president was sworn in a year ago.
The decline was mostly driven by concern over the performance of the economy.
Last Wednesday, Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli said Malaysia’s back-to-back quarterly growth proves that Anwar’s Madani Economic Framework is working.
The Malaysian economy registered back-to-back growth in the last three quarters, the latest at 3.3 per cent.
