Slamming critics for “evil whispers and slander”.
De facto PKR leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he had made known to Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad of his appointments with the Sultans prior to their meetings.
Anwar revealed that he was asked to meet the Sultan of Johor immediately after his release from prison and subsequently the Sultan of Perak.
He said he informed the Prime Minister about his audiences with the monarchs and that there was no hidden agenda.
“I reported this to Mahathir because he is the PM so he should know. Before I went I to meet the Sultan of Johor, I told Mahathir. I told him before I met Raja Nazrin, I told him – why are people prying now?” he said in a live interview aired Invoke Malaysia’s Facebook page.
He also said the meetings were an important step to maintaining good relations between the palaces and the new government.
“You see, after 60 years, the constitutional monarch is facing a change in government.
“The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government was set up amid strong propaganda that it was led by DAP, which would erode the powers of the monarch and the Malays. So I was there to tell them that the honour and sovereignty of the sultans will be upheld.”
“So why are others being busybodies? Give me space to move. I move as someone who is helping the government out,” he said.
Anwar was responding to individuals such as former information minister Zainuddin Maidin who had questioned his meetings with the Sultans.
He also refuted claims that he had not been firm enough in defending PH’s choice of Attorney-General following the palace’s reluctance to accept the candidate.
“I had business to attend to. I was working towards diffusing the tension,” he said.