PETALING JAYA: Amanah vice-president Mujahid Yusof Rawa today said that the party stands by Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership of Pakatan Harapan because of his proven commitment towards reforms in Malaysia.

Mujahid said it is not the time to put pressure on the coalition. Instead, they need to support Anwar.

“I am confident that we will stand by him, not just because he is Anwar Ibrahim but because of the institutional reforms that he has been defending, and for which he was jailed for defending,” he said in a statement today.

Mujahid said that PH had been “betrayed” by PPBM when the party was part of the ruling federal coalition.

“Anyone who leads PH must have an unwavering commitment to the great agenda of institutional reforms,” he said. Anwar had led this great agenda and remained steadfast in defending the principles of reform along with Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

“When Tun (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) chaired PH, many of his own party, PPBM, failed to understand this big agenda and the result was a betrayal, to the great reform agenda and to the meaning of loyalty.

“It was they who chose to betray us, not us who drove them away!,” he said.


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PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) should forget about trying to wrest back the government and instead plan for the next general election and convince the voters to return their mandate, a former deputy minister said.

Echoing the call for a political “reset”, but without changing the leadership, Bangi MP Ong Kian Ming said there was a need for a change in direction and focus by the PH leadership, and it should start with a consolidation of the opposition bloc.

The DAP leader outlined key areas that PH needed to look at, including integrating the 108 opposition MPs as one united front.

He said this would form the strongest opposition bench in Malaysian history. He, however, brushed off ideas of establishing a new government through a non-electoral manner, saying that would further destabilise the political landscape.

“We should let the voters decide in the next general election (GE15). Let the voters judge between the 22 months of the PH government and the governing record of the current government at the polls.

“We should spend the time from now until GE15 to consolidate the opposition and play an effective role of check and balance,” said the former deputy international trade and industry minister.


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BBC Culture’s film critics Nicholas Barber and Caryn James pick 16 of this year’s highlights, including Ammonite, Mangrove and an Irish animation in which every frame is a work of art.

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