Anwar: PAS is trying to create trouble in Pakatan

SHAH ALAM: PAS is attempting to create trouble in Pakatan Harapan with its current stance, says PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

"This is a PAS gimmick. They went to the elections and they lost miserably. And so now they want to have another route," Anwar told reporters after delivering a keynote address at the Regional Conference on Peaceful Coexistence 2020.

He said this in response to a question on PAS' prolamations that it wanted to throw its support behind Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad.

The Islamist party is also currently in a political collaboration with its former nemesis Umno to battle Pakatan in the next general election.

Anwar said PAS had been vicious in the past in its condemnation of Pakatan and was currently aiming to cause disarray in Pakatan.

However, he added, Pakatan would not fall prey to this PAS agenda.

"I am in communication with the leaders (of Pakatan), and we are intact. In politics there is treachery, there are corrupt deals, there are people who fear for their own positions, so there are a lot of dealings amongst the political allies," said Anwar.

He added that he was not concerned with such shenanigans as his main concern was to stabilise the politics of the country and to maintain the focus on the economy.

"People are having problems and struggling to have a decent livelihood. This must be central for the government in power right now. I have said this to the Prime Minister in private, and I appreciate that he accepts the fact that the whole focus of the government must be the economy," said Anwar.

On another matter, Anwar said only desperate politicians used the race and religion card to confuse the masses.

"You are corrupt, you plundered the wealth of the country, and then you start using the race card to confuse the masses," he said.

Anwar added that as far as he was concerned, the principle that must be adhered to must revolve around justice and fairness for all.