Bersatu leader slams PM for 'sexist remarks' to student

PETALING JAYA: Comments made by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to a student on Saturday (June 24) are inappropriate, discriminatory and sexist, says Sasha Lyna Abdul Latif.

The Bersatu’s Legal and Constitution bureau deputy chairman said Anwar's comments were a "display of sexist language by the 75-year-old Prime Minister to an 18-year-old (student)".

During an event at a Negri Sembilan university, the student had asked the Prime Minister about his administration's plans to tackle the ringgit's falling value.

She also asked him whether Malaysia can become a first-class nation and what can the government and the younger generation do in realising that aim.

Sasha Lyna said Anwar responded by praising the student on how well she relayed her questions and then said that if he was younger he would have asked the student for her phone number.

"The host or moderator then followed Anwar’s example by saying “Dato Seri dah dapat bagi dekat saya (share the number with me when you've gotten it)," said Sasha Lyna.

“In no circumstances is this kind of language acceptable; in a public televised forum, it is doubly shocking.

“What sort of example is the country’s PM setting for the youth of the nation? That it’s fine to ignore the intelligence and capacity of women, and instead treat them as an object of flirtation," she added.

She said that the Prime Minister should accept that he made a sexist comment at a public forum and apologise to the student and those who had been affected at the event.

“We hope that the women leaders in Pakatan Harapan and the unity government do not keep silent about this example of sexism by their own leader. They must speak up for girls and women or be branded hypocrites," she said.

Sasha Lyna added that it is unacceptable for a leader of a nation to utter such words to a student in the guise of being humorous.

“Anwar should have known better and the episode reflects ill upon him. This is a man fond of emphasising ‘civilised discourse’ from every forum and pulpit," she added.