Utusan: Anwar ‘king of nepotism’, risking greater treason with insistence on wife as MB
(Malay Mail Online) – Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is edging closer to full-blown treason with his attempt to force the Selangor sultan to accept PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s nomination for the mentri besar job, Umno-controlled Utusan Malaysia said in its Sunday editorial today.
The Malay paper said Anwar is putting to test the sultan’s resolve as well as the people’s support for the ruler when the de facto PKR leader’s ally, Lim Guan Eng, had offered his apology to the monarch for the DAP’s misstep in handing in only one name for the palace to consider despite orders to send in at least three.
“Seeing Guan Eng coming forward in taking care of sensitivities in the situation, then Anwar came to ask forgiveness … Awang sees it as still being in the scope of impudence and as if wanting to teach Selangor Sultan about the state constitution,” said a column by Awang Selamat, the collective pseudonym used by Utusan’s editors.
“That action can be interpreted as opening the doors of treason wider, in addition to trying to influence the public’s view to question the powers of the ruler.”
Dubbing Anwar “the King of Nepotism”, the paper said it should be clear to Anwar now that the people of Selangor are standing steady behind their Sultan.
“If Anwar wants to test how strict Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah can be, now he gets the message. Even though pressured and pushed by PKR and DAP in this issue, His Highness did not waver,” it said.
Last week, Anwar had sought forgiveness from the Selangor Sultan over PKR’s failure to provide more than two names for the mentri besar seat, but stressed that the party was only following in Umno’s footsteps when it only handed in one nominee to the palace.
In a statement, the PKR de facto chief pointed out that in the history of Umno’s rule since independence in 1957, the party had only ever provided the name of one state assemblyman or one parliamentarian to the palace for the post of chief minister, mentri besar or even prime minister.
However, Selangor Umno lawmakers chided Anwar, saying his apology was “insincere” and an afterthought.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had claimed on Thursday that Umno had traditionally submitted only one nominee for rulers to approve and endorse for the mentri besar posts in their respective states.
Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said he would weigh the names put forward by the three Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties, but will not limit possible candidates to those proposed by the DAP, PKR and PAS.
The ruler expressed disappointment with PKR and the DAP for submitting just one name, despite having requested for more than two names from each PR party.
PAS had initially submitted two names — Dr Wan Azizah and PKR deputy President Azmin Ali — but their list has since been overtaken by a list of three undisclosed names personally submitted by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang later the same week.
Thirty Selangor assemblymen — all 28 from PKR and the DAP, as well as two from PAS — had signed statutory declarations in support of Dr Wan Azizah, comprising the majority of the 56-seat legislative assembly.
