Don’t blame Anwar, find out what went wrong instead, says DAP leader

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PETALING JAYA: A DAP leader says Anwar Ibrahim should not be shunned just because he could not get the numbers to become the prime minister.

Penang deputy chief minister P Ramasamy said there must be critical appraisal by the opposition instead to ascertain what really went wrong and why the numbers were not there.

“Simply blaming Anwar for the political defeat might not be the wise thing to do. Pakatan Harapan (PH) component parties must address the question of future leadership with a view to face the next general election (GE15),” he said in a statement today.

Ramasamy added that Anwar might have his detractors but he urged the people not to forget that without him, the opposition would not even be in a position to consider forming an alternative government.

“This is not the time for witch-hunting or putting the blame on one or two leaders. As far as I am concerned, Anwar is still the leader of the opposition. There is little difference between the number of MPs supporting Anwar and Ismail Sabri Yaakob,” he said.

Yesterday, the King announced that Umno’s Ismail Sabri got the support of 114 MPs in the race for the post of prime minister. He will be sworn in this afternoon.

Anwar could only muster the support of about 105 MPs.

Ramasamy said the opposition leader is not perfect and must be held responsible for some of the strategic and tactical errors in the recent past, adding that he should not have “counted the chickens before they were hatched”.

“Even at the present moment, it does not make sense why he trusted some of the Umno leaders for support, especially the court cluster.”

He said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad might think that Anwar lost because he has lost support but it is easy to say this now, especially coming from a person who refused to hand over the post to Anwar as promised under the former Pakatan Harapan government.

“Yes, Mahathir’s Pejuang might have supported Anwar, but it is a bit too late. Rather than cry over spilled milk, the opposition must seriously discuss its future plans.

“More importantly, it must strategise how to win the next general election. This includes who can be trusted and what kind of alliances need to be forged. No leader is indispensable,” he said.

As for Ismail Sabri, Ramasamy said one cannot expect wonders especially with the cabinet he is going to inherit.

“He was one of the persons who must be held responsible for not addressing the pandemic matter seriously.

“Let us wait and see whether Ismail Sabri is capable of providing the leadership to address both the health and economic problems.”

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