Unity government too strong to be broken, says Anwar

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. – Bernama

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says the current government is too strong to be broken and he has strong support in the Dewan Rakyat – even with the recent political upheaval in Sabah.

He said this in an interview during the "Bicara Naratif" programme on RTM1 aired on Friday (Jan 6) night with hosts Sayed Munawar Sayed Mustar and Ismail Adnan.

"There have been many allegations. If they affect my credibility as the Prime Minister and defame me, I will teach them (a lesson by taking them to court)," he said.

He added he had been labelled as someone who "supports secularism, LGBT and is a dictator".

"Why did I ask for a vote of confidence? It was because the Opposition challenged me. In a democracy, the best way for me to show my support is through a vote of confidence. Where is the dictatorship?," he said, adding that he had the support of 148 MPs.

"If there are those who want to 'buy out' a few of them, go ahead.

"The government is too big to be broken – (we have) Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional, Gabungan Parti Sarawak, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah, Parti Warisan and others," he said.

On the situation in Sabah, he said Pakatan Harapan was attempting to stabilise the situation.

"I have advised the leaders to discuss among themselves.

"What happened before when the government under prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was unseated was due to treachery from within.

"Those who betrayed were all wiped out in their constituencies during the last general election and those who won are also not part of the government," said Anwar.

He also said that he was open to signing a confidence-and-supply agreement (CSA) with the Opposition if they want to.

He also said that with food security a priority, there was a need to get rid of cartels who "leech off farmers and fishermen."

"My directive to agencies in charge of agricultural produce is to return to their basic duties and bring the produce directly to cities to be sold at farmers' markets and such.

On calls to raise electricity tariffs, Anwar said this was what the previous government had planned.

"Yes, it costs RM130bil in subsidies each year but I want it to be raised for big corporations, not households," said Anwar.

He said there was a lot of electricity wastage during official events and in public offices.

"If every civil servant and leader is not wasteful and if every tender is studied properly, we can save billions," said Anwar.

This is the first time Anwar has been interviewed in a live broadcast by state media since he was appointed the tenth Prime Minister of Malaysia on Nov 24 last year.