KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim claimed last night that the coalition now had enough support from Sabah and Sarawak to command a slim majority in Parliament and to take over as the government of the day.
However, he said the coalition was not yet prepared to act on it, as it wanted to be in a stronger position, rather than just having a “slim majority” for the control of government to be “meaningful”.
“We are not in a hurry, but for the first time, we are saying we are ready to govern. My personal view is that we must have a stronger and comfortable majority to do that,” he said.
Speaking to reporters, Anwar said the three component parties of Pakatan Rakyat — PKR, DAP and PAS — needed to form a consensus on who would be prime minister on it forming the government.
Earlier in his speech to a gathering at the Sultan Sulaiman Club in Kampung Baru here, he said the coalition had enough support in Sabah and Sarawak to form the government.
The gathering was to celebrate the former deputy prime minister’s official return to politics after being banned from holding political office for five years following his imprisonment for corruption.
Anwar spoke for about an hour before being advised by the KL police chief to wrap up his speech and end the event. It was estimated that about 20,000 people attended the gathering.
He also said his wife Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is PKR president, could become the next prime minister. At the press conference, however, Anwar said it would depend on the coalition consensus.
Asked when he would seek re-entry into Parliament, he said the coalition’s priority was to ensure proper administration of the states within its control, fulfil its promises to the public and to strengthen the economy.
Meanwhile, when asked if she was ready to be the first female prime minister, Wan Azizah replied: “Why not?”
The Edge
15/4/08
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