Sunday, March 6, 2016

Next PM is people’s choice, says PKR president

Former Kedah menteri besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir's statement that the Citizens' Declaration would see the replacement of Datuk Seri Najib Razak with a new prime minister from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) is not the opposition's view, PKR said today. Party president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said Mukhriz did not speak on behalf of the opposition nor did he represent all voters. "That was his statement. That's his opinion. Not ours. It's a people's choice," Wan Azizah told reporters in Parliament. She also said it was not true the opposition was too weak to push for Najib's resignation on its own that it needed help from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who announced the declaration and the Save Malaysia movement last Friday. "Tun Mahathir is the one who is not strong. They are the ones who need our help," she said. Wan Azizah, the opposition leader, was responding to Mukhriz who said the declaration would not bring down the BN government but only sought to replace Najib. Mukhriz had also said the opposition was agreeable to replacing Najib with another BN leader. The declaration, spearheaded by Dr Mahathir, brought together political foes and civil society in demanding Najib's removal from office over alleged financial scandal and for undermining institutions. Wan Azizah, who was not present on Friday, did not say much when asked for her views towards Dr Mahathir's involvement in the declaration given that the former prime minister had sacked and jailed her husband, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in 1998. Dr Mahathir had sacked Anwar, then deputy prime minister, on allegations of corruption and sodomy. Anwar was convicted and spent six years in jail before the Federal Court overturned his first sodomy conviction in 2004. Last year, he was imprisoned again after being convicted of a second sodomy charge involving his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhary Azlan. Wan Azizah refused to be drawn into questions about forgiving Dr Mahathir. "I don't think that comes up. (DAP parliamentary leader Lim) Kit Siang was a victim, so is (Parti Amanah Negara president) Mohamad Sabu. "It's not about vengeance or revenge. It's about the country. What has happened has happened," she said. – March 7, 2016.]]>

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