PUTRAJAYA: Anthony Loke should stay on and continue work as Transport Minister, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said more than two weeks after the DAP secretary-general handed in his resignation.
"I told Loke that house arrest is not under the Prime Minister's jurisdiction. The decision is provided for in the Constitution, by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
"I want to take this opportunity to tell him to stay and do his work," he said.
Anwar was speaking at the Transport Ministry here on Wednesday (Oct 14), where the first batch of drivers received the RM1,000 one-off aid announced in Budget 2027.
Loke submitted his resignation letter on Sept 28 over the Pardons Board's decision allowing Datuk Seri Najib Razak to serve the rest of his jail term under house arrest.
He has said the resignation will take effect on the day Najib begins his house arrest, and that Anwar asked him to stay on until then.
Anwar said the country needed leaders with principles who cared about the people at the bottom.
"I am not saying this to praise him because Loke is here. Some people think someone like this should quit.
"Why should a good person like this have to quit?
"The ones who should quit are those involved in corruption," he said.
He told the audience to pay no heed to politicians who claimed in Parliament that the Government had done nothing and that the Budget meant nothing.
Anwar said a leader who cared about the people could not solve every problem in a day, but had to have good intentions.
He said those drawing up the Budget had to think about the plight of groups such as padi farmers in Kedah and taxi drivers in Johor.
"Drawing up a Budget is not easy. People can say whatever they want," he said.
Anwar said the Government needed its revenue to pay for things such as children's education and hospitals, so it was not easy to return all of it to the people as aid.
"However, I see the taxi industry as a case with specific needs because the challenges it faces are different from those of other sectors.
"We need to look into the problems faced by taxi drivers and find ways to help them, including taking into account rising fuel and operating costs," he said.
The aid covers about 38,000 taxi and hire car drivers and 15,000 school bus drivers, and is funded by the RM91.2mil raised from the bidding for special H-series registration numbers.
