KUALA LUMPUR – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should be given adequate time and space before any judgement can be made on his efficacy in governing the country, said former Umno stalwart Tan Sri Annuar Musa.
He said however that he is confident in Anwar’s capability as both of them had served together in the federal cabinet in the past. They were both ministers and in Umno under then-prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the 1990s.
“I have known him as we both rose in politics during our student activism days in the 1970s and we served in the cabinet for ten years,” he said in a special talk show on Sinar Harian last night.
Stressing that he also saw Anwar appointed as deputy prime minister (in December 1993), he added that he feels the Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman has the experience to govern.
“However when it comes to governing the country, it depends on the cabinet and how they work as a team as well,” he said.
However, Annuar, who is a former Barisan Nasional secretary-general, said that the government’s true litmus test would be the challenging global economic conditions in 2023.
“It doesn’t matter who the prime minister is, but next year will be a challenging one for the government as the global economy is expected to face turbulence,” he said.
Annuar, who has also served in several cabinet seats under recent prime ministers Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, was sacked from Umno earlier this month.
He claimed that the previous administration under Ismail Sabri was struggling to deal with issues of inflation and the rising cost of living.
He also recalled that the government previously had spent over RM70 billion on subsidies, and cautioned that such practices to help the people will not be sustainable.
Meanwhile, Annuar also said that the label “unity government” used by the current administration is a misnomer.
“For me, it would be an exciting event if there is a unity government as there would not be any opposition, but the largest political bloc voted by the Malays are in the government.
“It is not actually a unity government but it is actually a coalition government built by three major political blocs,” he said, referring to the cooperation between PH, BN and Gabungan Parti Sarawak. –The Vibes, December 30, 2022
