No timeline set for Anwar to take over as Prime Minister, says Pakatan
(FMT) – Pakatan Harapan (PH) secretary-general Saifuddin Abdullah today said there had been no discussion yet on the possibility of Dr Mahathir Mohamad completing a full term as prime minister.
He said the coalition had not set up a timeline for Mahathir’s tenure in its agreement out of respect for the PH chairman as well as PKR president Anwar Ibrahim, who is expected to take over as prime minister after Mahathir.
“Both of them will know the best thing to do, to decide,” he told reporters after a press conference with UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt at Wisma Putra.
“We did not set a timeline because what is most important is that we know both of them understand the matter more than anyone else in PH.
“They will be able to decide.”
He said PH had formed an agreement signed on Jan 6 last year, which was read out during the coalition’s convention on Jan 7.
He said the agreement only concerned three issues: seat allocations for parties in Peninsular Malaysia, the promise to obtain a royal pardon for Anwar if PH won the 14th general election, and the agreement to nominate Mahathir as prime minister with Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as his deputy, and to name Anwar as the eighth prime minister.
“We believe that Mahathir and Anwar know what to do,” he said.
On the reported rift between Anwar and PKR deputy president Mohamed Azmin Ali, Saifuddin said he believed the matter could be resolved.
“Azmin has his points as to why he made the statement, and I believe PKR has its way of solving this kind of matter.”
Saifuddin, who is also foreign minister, also reiterated the government’s intention to help end the Rohingya crisis with the assistance of other Asean countries.
He said the biggest challenge was to ensure the repatriation of Rohingya refugees in the right manner.
“The three words we normally use are ‘voluntary’, ‘safe’ and ‘dignified’,” he added.
He said Putrajaya had agreed to hold discussions on the matter with the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh.
He also spoke of the possibility of having an Asean Humanitarian Assistance Centre which could play a role in overseeing the repatriation process. However, he added that this was still under discussion.
