KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 26 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would make a much better leader than Datuk Seri Najib Razak, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang said today, responding to critics of Pakatan Harapan’s decision to appoint the jailed politician its prime minister-designate.
In a press conference at the party’s headquarters, the Gelang Patah MP said Anwar could still become a “beacon of hope” for Malaysians, even from behind bars.
“I believe Anwar can play his role. He can become the beacon of hope, so long as he can articulate on justice and equality, he is certainly better than Najib,” he said.
Critics have lamented the dearth of capable and trusted leaders in Pakatan Harapan and criticised their fixation on the former opposition leader.
“Before this, even without Anwar, there was Nik Aziz to be a point of reference that everybody can rely on,” Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia political analyst Dr Ahmad Nizamuddin Sulaiman said.
The associate professor was referring to the late PAS spiritual adviser Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat.
“Sadly with him gone, there are differences between Hadi and Kit Siang, they can’t tolerate each other. That’s why most are more pessimistic about Pakatan Harapan,” he suggested, referring to PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.
Recently, PKR, DAP and Amanah announced the formation of a new coalition to replace Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and extended an invitation for PAS to join, which the latter has since snubbed.
PR broke apart mainly mainly due to the differences between DAP and PAS over the Islamist party's hudud ambition.
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