Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim
BUTTERWORTH: PKR president elect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should be given leeway in determining the best decision on the appointment of former Inspector-General of Police as the peace facilitator in southern Thailand.
He did not deny that the appointment would not please the various parties, especially those who could not forget what Abdul Rahim did when he was holding the post of IGP.
“I know some consider this as a personal issuesbut we need to remember because we are now talking about a former IGP and criminal behaviour (involving him). We also need to know the fact that some space should be given to Tun Mahathir as Prime Minister to determine what is best.
“In this regard, it is not just about Anwar’s case (bruised eyes incident while in detention), on the other hand, lesson can be learned by others (following the issue),” he told reporters after officiating the Penang branch general annual meeting here today.
Anwar said this when asked to comment on the statement by his daughter Nurul Izzah, who is also Permatang Pauh MP to strongly oppose the appointment of Abdul Rahim.
Nurul Izzah, who is also PKR vice president, had described Abdul Rahim as a brutal assaulter of an innocent man in her Twitter post recently.
Abdul Rahim replaces Datuk Seri Ahmad Zamzamin Hashim as the new facilitator for the peace process in southern Thailand between the Thai government and Mara Patani, an umbrella body representing militant groups in southern Thailand.
Earlier in his speech, Anwar called on PKR leaders especially those involved in the election to return to the right track and not be involved in corruption and abuse of power.
“I want to emphasize that our situation is different from the time we form the party. Now we are the party that rules and the strongest party in Parliament,” he said.
Anwar said the economic agenda should now changed and its growth spurred further to benefit the people. – Bernama