by PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is expected to hold a press conference at 4.30pm on Tuesday (March 16) amid talks about the collaboration between his Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and its supposed rival Umno in the next election.
Invitations to the press conference were sent to the media on Tuesday morning on WhatsApp groups by his press secretary, following a report by the Mingguan Malaysia newspaper on Sunday, where Datuk Seri Anwar confirmed that there have been informal discussions between both parties.
The press conference is set to be held at Eastin Hotel in Petaling Jaya and it will be aired on Facebook Live. Sources have said Mr Anwar is expected to address the issue of Umno and PKR collaborating for the next general election.
According to sources, Mr Anwar is set to meet and address PKR MPs at 2.30pm prior to the press conference.
“I’m not quite sure what is the issue, but I think we can expect what’s to be announced,” a source said briefly.
Earlier on Tuesday, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil was also quoted by Utusan Malaysia as saying that the PKR-Umno cooperation has not been deliberated by opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan (PH), but he is confident that the cooperation will be accepted by the grassroots.
Meanwhile, talk of PKR veterans Nurul Izzah Anwar, who is Mr Anwar’s daughter, and Rafizi Ramli returning to the spotlight has also been rife in the political rumour mill recently.
Mr Anwar had told Mingguan Malaysia that he will try to convince leaders such as Ms Nurul Izzah and Mr Rafizi to return to politics, as they were the type of leaders with character to become successors to the party leadership.
“Even though they are quite stubborn… I respect their principles,” he was quoted as saying.
Ms Nurul Izzah and Mr Rafizi exited from active politics in December 2018 and 2019, respectively, after infighting in PKR pitted factions supporting Mr Anwar against those aligned with former party deputy president Azmin Ali.
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, whose parliamentary majority has been in doubt since several Umno MPs withdrew their support for his government at the beginning of the year, has vowed to hold snap polls once an ongoing state of emergency ends in August, or earlier if the Covid-19 pandemic is brought under control.
Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had told the Prime Minister on Feb 26 that his party would not ally itself with the ruling Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia at the next general election.
Umno had agreed to back Tan Sri Muhyiddin as premier a year ago after the previous Pakatan Harapan government collapsed, but a faction in the party led by Datuk Seri Zahid and former premier Najib Razak have since agitated for a split.
Umno won 54 parliamentary seats in 2018 but was left with 38 seats after about a dozen of its MPs defected to Bersatu.
PKR won 48 parliamentary seats in the last general election but was left with 35 seats following the departure of several of its MPs, including its former party vice-president and Cabinet minister Xavier Jayakumar, who left the party and threw his support behind the PN government as an independent MP on Saturday.
