KUALA LUMPUR: The post of finance minister does not necessarily have to be reserved for a Malay-Muslim, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The PKR president said this in defence of the current minister Lim Guan Eng, after the Malay Dignity Congress on Sunday passed several resolutions, including for the finance minister post to be held by a Malay-Muslim.
“The finance minister must be a person who is qualified, competent and professional,” he told reporters when met in Parliament, here, today.
“He should be someone who cares for the Malays and the Bumiputra, and cares for all Malaysians,” he added.
Anwar was asked to comment on the demand made by the congress that all top government positions must only be held Malay-Muslims, to ensure the religion of Islam was not further threatened.
PAS Youth deputy chief Ahmad Fadhil Shaari, who presented the resolution, said these positions included the prime minister, deputy prime minister, mentris besar and chief ministers, important ministerial posts, as well as the chief justice, attorney-general (AG) and the inspector-general of police.
Apart from Lim, only the AG, currently being held by Tommy Thomas, is a non-Muslim.
Asked why he was not present during the congress, Anwar, who is also Port Dickson MP, said he had received the invitation “too late”, and that by then, he already had other prior commitments.
“I received the invitation the evening before (the congress). I was in Negri Sembilan at that time, in Port Dickson,” he said.
When pressed further on speculation that he was not even invited, Anwar said that was the case initially, but that he eventually got the invite, albeit too late.
“I was not invited at first, and when I asked why, the organisers claimed that my party PKR is a mixed-race party, and not Malay-based one.
“But on Saturday evening, (Datuk Seri Dr) Wan Azizah Wan Ismail called me to say I was invited, but it was already too late. I already had a couple of programmes planned in Negri Sembilan,” he said.
