Anwar has no personal agenda against PN, says Saifuddin

PETALING JAYA: There is nothing personal about opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s efforts to unseat the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, a senior official of Pakatan Harapan (PH) has said.

PH secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Anwar’s efforts stemmed from a decision by PH leaders. He rejected accusations of a personal agenda.

In an interview with Sinar Harian on Friday, Saifuddin said: “I vehemently deny this is Anwar’s personal effort. PH has nominated Anwar (as opposition leader) to restore the people’s mandate for PH to govern.”

He said the effort to bring down the PN government was continuing, in and out of Parliament.

Pakatan Harapan failed to unseat PN through a budget vote last week when the 2021 federal budget was passed by 111 votes to 108 in the Dewan Rakyat. Saifuddin said the vote was not a signal of PH’s failure.

“If one loses (budget vote), the other (process) is still running,” he said in a reference to Anwar’s past claims of having obtained a sufficient number of statutory declarations of support from MPs for a “convincing majority” in the Dewan Rakyat.

However, Saifuddin was not willing to reveal how many sworn statements of support Anwar had received. “I am not ready to share the number. I know who we met, how much support we got and so on. Knowing the way Anwar carries out his responsibilities, he always informs the progress of his efforts to the main PH leaders,” he said.

Last week, Anwar’s PH partners, Mohamad Sabu of Amanah, and Lim Guan Eng of DAP, had called for an end to “chasing shadows and to not waste time with opportunistic government MPs”.

The statement appeared to be a slap in the face for Anwar. Saifuddin described it as a small matter, not on par with the departure of PAS from the coalition in 2016.