Anwar on why he withdrew from polls

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Anwar (left) stressing a point during the press conference while See looks on.

KUCHING: PKR de-facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says he has decided to withdraw from the presidential race in the upcoming party election to avoid the risk of the party being deregistered by the Registrar of Societies (RoS).

Anwar, who is Permatang Pauh MP, said after discussing with his lawyers, they saw the risk of the party being deregistered in the event that he won the presidency and lost in his appeal against his sodomy conviction in the Federal Court.

The Court of Appeal had sentenced Anwar to five years’ jail for sodomy on March 7.

“Based on the advice from my lawyers who said that Umno will use whatever means to influence RoS to deregister the party, I have therefore decided to withdraw (from contesting),” he told a press conference here yesterday.

PKR election director Datuk Johari Abdul on Tuesday said the committee received Anwar’s letter to withdraw from the contest on April 19 without giving any reason.

“After the difficult few days following the death of Anwar’s lawyer (former DAP national chairman) Karpal Singh, he has taken the advice of his legal team to concentrate on his case.

“We do not want the Registrar of Societies and the government to take advantage (of his candidacy), and therefore, he willingly withdrew from the race,” said Johari.

Following Anwar’s withdrawal, his wife Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail the incumbent is still the party president. Despite his withdrawal from the race, Anwar will remain as the party de-facto leader and
advisor.

Meanwhile, state PKR vice-chairman See Chee How said the party would seek judicial review after the party election on the ban of the party’s national leaders from entering the state.

They included strategic director Rafizi Ramli, secretary-general Datuk Saifuddin Nasution, women chief Zuraida Kamaruddin and vice-president Tian Chua.

Anwar asked the state government what offence the four party leaders had committed to such as extent that they were barred from entering the state?

Anwar said what the party leaders did was just to air the people’s grievances, which he and the other Pakatan Rakyat leaders in the state also did.