Friday 29 Mar 2024
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PETALING JAYA: Discussions on the next opposition leader to fill the gap left by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be the focus of the coming Pakatan Rakyat presidential council, says PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli.

The meeting scheduled for next week will be chaired by PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

With Anwar in jail, the big question is who will take over as leader of the opposition. Given the bickering between the Islamist PAS and the secular DAP, chances are that the next opposition leader will come from Anwar’s party PKR.

After his conviction for sodomy and five-year sentence, Anwar’s Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat in Penang will also be declared vacant.

PAS president Abdul Datuk Seri Hadi Awang is being put forward as the right candidate to replace Anwar by the Islamist party’s conservative Dewan Ulama wing.

Its Terengganu unit deputy Dr Abu Bakar Abdullah said Hadi has the credentials and the ability to solve problems faced by Pakatan, the Sinar Harian daily reported yesterday.

Abu Bakar told the paper Hadi is also an internationally recognised Muslim cleric.

“Personally, I think he (Hadi) should be the choice. I am confident the ulama can find solutions to problems based on religion. Morever, Hadi has the leadership ability and talent which is recognised worldwide,” he was quoted as saying by the Malay daily.  

However, Abu Bakar said the final decision on the matter lies with the Pakatan leadership, but it must be based on “tahaluf siyasi” (political consensus), a term used to describe PAS’ working arrangement with its allies in Pakatan.

Abu Bakar reminded Hadi’s critics that the Islamist party chief has administrative experience as he led Terengganu as chief minister from 1999 to 2004. — The Malaysian Insider

 

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 18, 2015.

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