KUALA LUMPUR – Voices in DAP calling for opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to step down as leader of the opposition bloc belong to those who are eager to return to power, said Dr Boo Cheng Hau.
Former Johor DAP chief said they are individuals who are cosying up to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, hoping to return to power one day.
Boo said he disagrees with several of his party colleagues who have been making Anwar a scapegoat for Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) dismal performance in last month’s Melaka polls.
“The group of DAP leaders who want Anwar to step down are the former ministers and deputy ministers,” he told The Vibes in an interview.
Without naming names, he said these individuals are eager to return to power and they have spoken about “getting rid” of Anwar and bringing Dr Mahathir back to steer PH into government again.
“This is the group that is so eager to return as a government at all costs. They talk about abandoning Anwar and they want Mahathir to be back as leader because they think Mahathir is the only one who can bring us back to government.
“However, they forgot that the PH government collapsed because of Mahathir. Their own performance had destroyed and damaged PH’s image.
“They are the ones who should take full responsibility and reassess their own performance during their time in Putrajaya,” he said.
Following PH’s defeat in the state election, DAP national organising secretary and former transport minister Anthony Loke openly said that PH must stop insisting that Anwar be its sole candidate for the post of prime minister.
Loke was quoted as saying by The Malaysian Insight that the coalition should instead talk more about the reform agenda and not just about Anwar being prime minister.
Responding to Loke’s remarks, Boo said it is unjust to throw Anwar under the bus for PH’s poor performance in Melaka and that he should not bear sole responsibility for losses in previous state and by-elections.
“This is because he did not helm any positions in the previous PH government.
“It is truly not Anwar’s fault because he was not in the (PH) government, so he had no full control of the government.
“The damage is already done, which was shown in the Tg Piai by-election. This domino effect has continued, where it carried on to the Melaka election and it will happen in Sarawak.”
Anwar’s Asian Renaissance still highly relevant for the country
Boo said there is no other leader in PH who has the calibre or experience in the likes of Anwar to present a good and strong image as the coalition’s prime ministerial candidate at the moment.
“(DAP stalwart) Lim Kit Siang has also openly said that our prime minister choice is Anwar. We don’t want anyone outside of PH for a very good reason because we want a very strong, consolidated and united PH.
“Anyone can propose themselves to be the prime ministerial choice. But within PH, we have decided collectively to back Anwar.
“I think his vision still needs time to realise – including a more multicultural Asian Renaissance approach to better or have a more progressive and open society. I think that is lacking in Malaysia,” he said.
In Anwar’s book titled The Asian Renaissance, he advocated the concept of a renaissance from the Islamic perspective, especially how the Muslims in the Malay archipelago should inherit their own cultures and learn to live with non-Muslims in harmony.
Boo said the PH chairman also highlighted the importance of multiculturalism in Asean’s success in keeping regional peace.
In the book, Anwar emphasised the significance of the revival of Asian multiculturalism through humanism, including the Islamic view of the revival of Malay culture and pluralism. – The Vibes, December 11, 2021
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