It's not true Anwar rejected by the Malays - Abdullah Sani

Kapar MP, Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid, has denied claims by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, that Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, does not have the support of the Malays because of the latter’s liberal political philosophy.

He said the accusation was not only baseless but the Langkawi MP clearly had a hidden agenda.

"If Anwar have been rejected (by the Malays), then how did we dominate the seats in Parliament?

“In fact, the symbol used during the 14th General Election (GE14) was also PKR’s that reflects Anwar.

“So, I do not understand where is the evidence that Anwar was rejected.

“To me, this (Dr Mahathir's statement) is not correct at all," he said when contacted by Sinar Harian.

Yesterday, Dr Mahathir claimed Anwar did not have the support of the Malay community as they viewed him as a liberal.

The former prime minister said this has been the case since Anwar was still in Umno, saying the Malays feared liberalism would lead to an erosion of their rights and privileges.

He claimed that Anwar formed PKR as a liberal party as he wanted to gain the support of DAP and PAS.

Abdullah Sani said that as the former Prime Minister holding the country's number one position on a Pakatan Harapan (PH) ticket, it was not proper for Dr Mahathir to have made such a statement.

“Without the victory of the PH consensus formed before GE14, Dr Mahathir would not have been able to become prime minister again.

“I personally do not understand the ‘liberal’ term used against Anwar because if we look at the background of their families (Anwar and Dr Mahathir’s), I am sure the people will be able to tell who the liberals really are,” he said.