I’m not the glue in Pakatan, Selangor crisis proved it, says Anwar
(TMI) – Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim believes that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) would survive even if he returns to prison, saying this has been proven by what transpired within the coalition after the Selangor menteri besar (MB) crisis.
Speaking to The Malaysian Insider yesterday, Anwar pointed out that PR was able to form a state government with PAS, DAP and PKR even though PAS had broken ranks throughout the impasse.
Anwar said he himself was unable to effectively use his mediation skills to resolve differences between PAS and its partners, but still, the coalition was able to emerge intact.
In spite of all the acrimony in the crisis in which everyone thought the coalition would break up, Anwar said PR was still able to pull together after the new MB was chosen.
After the Selangor crisis, PR leaders including from PAS, came together to craft a shadow budget that was supported by the coalition’s three parties.
Anwar described the claim that he was the glue that held PR together as something “spread by supporters who wanted to boost my ego”.
The reality, he said, was that the leaders of the three parties had strong relationships forged in the coalition’s inter-party committees such as those on the elections and the budget.
“Their roles should not be diminished. There is not much truth to the belief that Anwar is so important for Pakatan, or that the leaders of all three parties are so important.
“It is probably good for my ego but as a fact, it is not true,” he quipped during an interview with The Malaysian Insider at his home in Bukit Segambut, Kuala Lumpur.
