KUALA LUMPUR: The Madani government has accepted its D grade from electoral reform watchdog, Bersih but is positive it will get an improved grade in the future, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said such a grading from Bersih’s recent report on the government performance is acceptable considering the government has only served for just two years.
“About Bersih’s report, it is okay to get a ‘D’ instead of ‘F.’ Today, we get a ‘D’ mark for UPSR and next time we can get an ‘A’ for SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia),” he told the Dewan Rakyat here, Tuesday (Nov 21).
On Nov 20, Bersih had given the Pakatan Harapan-led administration a grade of “D” in its mid-term evaluation, in which the poor performance was attributed to the coalition government’s failure to carry out significant institutional reforms.
The electoral reform group also ranked Anwar behind its predecessors Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in fulfilling their reform promises.
ALSO READ: Anwar defends recent remarks on Israel in Parliament
When commenting on the issue of fair allocations for the Opposition, Anwar once again reiterated the government's stance that it is prepared to implement this, provided it goes through a negotiation process.
"On the matter of allocations, I do not understand the complaints; this was also included in the Bersih report.
“When I was the Opposition leader, I negotiated with the prime minister, and only after discussions were held did we finalise and receive the initial draft of the allocation.
"YB Larut (Opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin) is well aware that negotiations are necessary, but the Opposition has refused to engage, causing this matter to be delayed," he said in response to Datuk Awang Hashim’s (PN-Pendang) query regarding allocations for the Opposition.
Anwar also suggested that Awang act as the mediator and assured that the allocation would be channelled if an agreement could be reached promptly.
