Nazri Aziz pledges full support for Anwar Ibrahim as the next PM

(FMT) – Nazri Aziz has pledged full support for PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as the next prime minister, just hours after he was removed as the Barisan Nasional secretary-general today.

“I believe in Anwar. I am a 100% Anwar supporter. No change,” the Padang Rengas MP told FMT.

Saying he would also champion the Malay agenda, Nazri said his support for Anwar was not something new as he had backed the PKR leader in the early 1990s when the latter was with Umno.

Nazri said the difference was that he remained an Umno member while Anwar was sacked from the party.

“Neither did Anwar leave Umno. He was sacked and formed PKR to fight for his rights,” he said.

Anwar was the Umno deputy president and deputy prime minister in 1998 when he was dramatically sacked from the government by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The two patched up their differences in 2016 with a common goal to overthrow the Najib Razak administration in the 2018 general election.

Nazri said he would now lobby Umno MPs to support Anwar to be prime minister.

But he said he was not pitting Anwar against Mahathir.

“I am saying that between them (Anwar and Mahathir), they have agreed to give the chair to Anwar. I support their agreement,” he added.

Nazri said he was committed to ensuring Umno wins big in the next general election.

“I would like to pursue this Malay agenda within Umno and PAS. They (Malays) would support the agenda,” he said, adding that Malay rights should not be questioned while at the same time should not be seen as extreme.

The outspoken MP is optimistic the Umno-PAS alliance will result in a government which will implement pro-Malay policies while protecting the rights of the minority.

Earlier today, Nazri was officially removed as the BN secretary-general, and replaced by Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

This followed MCA and MIC’s refusal to recognise Nazri as the coalition’s secretary-general.

The two non-Malay parties said his appointment was never discussed or officially approved in the BN Supreme Council.

Nazri said he could now focus on championing the Malay rights and supporting Anwar.

“I am a maverick. I don’t like to be tied to a post which will make it difficult to express my views,” he said.