PUTRAJAYA - Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim pledged to fight religious extremism and poverty at the annual congress of his party on Nov 25, as he marked his one-year anniversary in office.
The two-day meeting of his Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is taking place for the first time in the Putrajaya seat of power, amid criticisms that the former opposition party that long campaigned for reforms has been slow in carrying out the promised changes as Malaysia’s ruling party.
“Some say we are too slow in carrying out reforms. Some say we are not Islamic enough. I want to say that we must take the moderate and middle path, taking everyone into account. We are a Muslim country but we must think of others too,” Datuk Seri Anwar said, in his speech at the opening of the congress late on Nov 25. “It is not possible for all the problems to be solved in a year,” he said.
He also spoke on fighting bigotry. “As long as we are in power, we will not allow chaos in this country in the name of race and religion,” Mr Anwar said.
Leaders from his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition and allies from the Barisan Nasional and Borneo parties sat on the same stage at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC).
He did not mention names, but the reference to race and religion was clearly targeted at the Malay-Muslim opposition coalition, Perikatan Nasional, which often harps on ethnic matters.
Mr Anwar’s so-called unity government is struggling to gain more support from Malaysia’s Malay-Muslim majority, but needs to balance any outreach towards them without losing his solid hold on ethnic Chinese and Indian voters.
Mr Anwar in his speech also pledged to eradicate hardcore poverty, and repair dilapidated schools and clinics, even as he addressed rising complaints about high inflation.
He said the government plans to switch to targeted subsidies aimed at helping the poor, by reducing blanket subsidies on items such as petrol and cooking gas that the government said benefited high-income Malaysians.
“Blanket subsidies are no longer relevant as the cost swells each year. Subsidies in 2022 totalled RM77.3 billion (S$22 billion) covering petrol, diesel, LPG, cooking oil, flour and electricity... this will swell to RM81 billion in 2023 if we don’t resolve this immediately.”
The opening ceremony was attended by some 2,400 delegates, 50 diplomats and over 1,000 observers.
Mr Anwar was sworn in as Malaysia’s 10th prime minister on Nov 24, 2022. But since then, his popularity has slipped with higher decibels of criticisms over the slow pace of reforms, ever-rising cost of living and a weak economy.
His approval rating of 68 per cent in December 2022 had fallen to 50 per cent, said independent pollster Merdeka Center which released its latest survey findings on Nov 22.
Nearly eight in 10 of the 1,220 survey respondents said the economy is the top issue facing Malaysians today, as it has affected livelihoods.
The approval rating of Mr Anwar’s so-called unity government has also dropped, from 54 per cent in December 2022, to 41 per cent in the latest survey that was conducted from Oct 4 to Oct 24.
PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli said earlier in the day on Nov 25 that speeches at the congress will be focused on efforts to develop the country, unlike controversial speeches at previous annual meetings.
Party leaders will debate the PKR president’s speech on Nov 26.
“I think the speeches… will be focused on the issue of nation-building and they may not be ‘hot’ and may be quite boring,” he told reporters. “Before this, speeches at the PKR congress would always be ‘hot’ and controversial.”
Several meetings in previous years devolved into brawls and chair throwing.
But this time, the atmosphere was calm and collected in the cavernous hall of the PICC that was completed in 2003 by former premier Mahathir Mohamad, who is now in the opposition camp.
