KUALA LUMPUR: PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim sought forgiveness from the Selangor Sultan yesterday for a second time, this time over his statement pertaining to the palace’s convention on menteri besar (MB) candidates.

“Referring to the statement by Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani (the sultan’s private secretary) and the Selangor palace regarding convention, I would like to explain.

“I only stated what I knew had happened, particularly during my time in the Umno-BN (Barisan Nasional) government, from 1982 to 1998,” Anwar said in a brief statement yesterday.

“If there was any mistake, I seek forgiveness from the Selangor sultan.”

The Selangor palace said yesterday that Anwar was incorrect and had confused the public when he claimed BN had always submitted only one candidate for the Selangor MB post.

Munir said in a four-page statement that BN, through the prime minister, submitted multiple names for the top post to the sultan when the coalition ruled the state.

“Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s statement is inaccurate and confuses the rakyat. What happened during the BN government’s administration was that the choices for the Selangor MB post were presented to the Selangor sultan by the prime minister in a ceremony.

“During the ceremony, the prime minister would present the names of candidates believed to be qualified, for the sultan’s consent.

“From the list of names, the Selangor sultan would choose one candidate to be appointed MB,” said Munir.

Munir urged Anwar not to release statements that could confuse the public and taint the sultan’s image if he did not have the correct facts.

Last Tuesday, Anwar had sought the sultan’s forgiveness for offending him after PKR defied his decree to submit more than two names to the palace.

But Anwar had insisted that his party had acted according to convention and state law in proposing only Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for the position.

He said that Umno, too, had only presented one name for the positions of state assemblyman, parliamentarian, chief minister, MB and prime minister since 1957.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad appeared to confirm this, saying it had always been convention to submit one name to the state ruler for the post of MB.

He told reporters last Thursday that he had never submitted more than one name, and this had not been a problem with any state rulers. — The Malaysian Insider


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 19, 2014.