Anwar fixation insulting to other Pakatan leaders, Rafizi told

(MMO) – Several politicians have panned PKR’s Rafizi Ramli over his plan on how Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim could still become prime minister that would depend on a royal pardon.

The politicians said the insistence on having Anwar as the leader of a Pakatan Harapan government, despite the PKR de facto leader being behind bars, is an insult towards other opposition leaders, including the Pandan MP himself.

“Rafizi’s remark was as if there is no other people deserving to be prime minister. Even he can become the PM,” Perkasa president and former Pasir Mas MP Datuk Ibrahim Ali told Malay Mail Online.

“What is so special about Anwar as PM? Everybody know his record…I’m confident that the sky will not fall down in Malaysia if Anwar never becomes PM.”

MIC treasurer-general Datuk Seri S. Vell Paari said it is unrealistic for the Opposition to still consider Anwar as prime minister and they should move on to another candidate.

“So, is the Opposition so insecure and devout of good leaders that they still need Anwar Ibrahim to be the prime minister if they become the government?” he asked.

“If yes, it means that people like [Tan Sri] Muhyiddin Yassin, [Datuk Seri] Mukhriz Mahathir, [Datuk Seri] Azmin Ali are all incapable leaders and this is an insult to their intelligence and capability,” he added, referring to the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president, deputy president, and PKR deputy president respectively.

On Monday, former PKR secretary-general Rafizi suggested a plan that resembled his previous so-called “Kajang Move” on how Anwar can be made prime minister should Pakatan Harapan win the next general election.

In his suggestion, Rafizi said Anwar can be freed within two days of the general elections, then subsequently win a parliamentary seat when a PKR lawmaker steps aside, and take his oath as prime minister as early as two weeks after.

However, Latheefa Koya, one of Anwar’s lawyers and PKR legal adviser, told Malay Mail Online that Rafizi’s suggestion was merely personal and not part of the party’s strategy for Anwar.

Ibrahim said holding a by-election merely for Anwar would be a waste of public funds, an issue that Rafizi himself has consistently opposed.

MCA vice-president Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun also slammed the suggestion as an attempt to manipulate democracy by abusing the mandate that voters would have given to any MP, who would be a “two-week MP” vacating their seat for Anwar.

“No matter which MP, whether voluntarily or being forced to give way to Anwar. [They] have the responsibility to answer to the public because he was chosen by the people in the first place,” Chew told Malay Mail Online.

“We respect democratic results where the majority decides, however, it doesn’t mean any individual or party [has] the rights to manipulate this democracy,” she added.

Both and Chew and Vell Paari also pointed out that the plan itself is unethical since it hinges on so many uncertainties and contingencies.

“Moreover, what make him so confident that our His Royal Highness Agong will respond to their proposal? And if there is really a by-election by then, is Anwar for sure going to win?” Chew asked.

“Of course it’s unethical to leave the country hanging, without a government or PM candidate to free Anwar,” Vell Paari added.

On February 10, 2015, the Federal Court upheld an earlier 2014 ruling by the Court of Appeal for the conviction and five-year jail term of Anwar over the sodomy of his former political aide, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, in 2008.

Despite failing in his final attempt to reverse his sodomy conviction and prison sentence yesterday, Anwar maintained that there was still hope in his bid for freedom.

Anwar has also filed an appeal against the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision to deny him leave to challenge the Pardons Board’s refusal to grant him royal pardon, with the appeal hearing at the Court of Appeal scheduled for January 18.