Anwar’s appointment as eighth PM will not be done in haste — Wan Azizah

KUALA LUMPU R: T he appointment of PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the eighth prime minister of Malaysia will not be made in haste, said his wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who has been named the new deputy prime minister.

The PKR president said the appointment would be made, in accordance with the original plan, during the mid-term of the new Pakatan Harapan government administration.

“Right now, we want the government helmed by ( Prime Minister) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to function smoothly.

"We accept the transformation that we desired, especially the reformation that we wished to propose,” she said to reporters after visiting Anwar at the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital here yesterday.

Dr Wan Azizah was asked to comment on a foreign media repor t quoting Counci l of Eminent Persons chairman Tun Daim Zainuddin that it would be foolish to make Anwar prime minister as soon as he returned to Parliament.

Asked about Anwar’s health, Dr Wan Azizah, who is the MP for Pandan, said her husband was recovering.

“He is recovering. On the ‘ ceramah’ ( talk) scheduled for tomorrow, Insya- Al lah ( God willing), let’s wait,” she said.

On Monday, the Comptroller of the Royal Household, Istana Negara, Datuk Wan Ahmad Dahlan Ab Aziz, said in a statement that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Muhammad V, had consented to all procedures related to the proceedings of the Pardons Board pertaining to Anwar being fi nalised yesterday.

Anwar began serving a five-year jail sentence in February 2015 after the Federal Court upheld his conviction and sentence on a charge of having sodomised a former personal aide. — Bernama