PH leaders and Ismail Sabri also agreed to strengthen the functions of Parliament to become a responsible and constructive institution and provide checks and balances on the executive.
Opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan will not vote against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in a confidence motion if the new government implements policies that address the needs of the people, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said today.
The opposition leader said the coalition’s support is conditional upon Ismail’s policies to help the people overcome the health and economic crises.
“We told him that under these conditions, and (if) the programme that he will implement is for the benefit of the people, we will not complicate matters when a vote of confidence is called,” Anwar told reporters after meeting the prime minister in Putrajaya today.
Also with him were Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
In the hour-long meeting, Anwar said they had discussed new measures to handle the Covid-19 pandemic and prioritise the welfare of the people.
“It was a good start for us to discuss better measures to handle the Covid-19 pandemic and help the B40 (income earners) who have lost their jobs.
“This is one of the most important points that we got across,” he said.
Anwar said Lim had also spoken to Ismail about providing the people with an interest-free loan moratorium while Mohamad pointed out that new measures were needed to combat Covid-19 as the old ones have failed.
The PKR president said he also thanked Ismail for inviting PKR and DAP to the table to have this discussion,” he said.
“I joked with him that the whole ‘No DAP’ thing seems to be changing, and he said it was because the king had advised all parties to work together.”
The Port Dickson MP said the offer for opposition members to sit in the National Security Council was not discussed.
“From the start, we have made it clear that we did not come to ask for positions for ourselves. Our issues are specific to the welfare of the people and the economy,” he said.
Anwar said an offer for him as the opposition leader to be in the cabinet was not brought up.
“The issue of giving the opposition leader a post in the cabinet was also not brought up, and I’m not interested. I don’t want this to become an issue,” he added.
Ismail, in a joint statement with Anwar, Mohamad and Lim Guan Eng, later said the hour-long meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office discussed the agenda to ensure the people’s well-being.
“This is to find common ground to handle the Covid-19 crisis, to save lives and to protect everyone from the pandemic,” the statement said.
“It is also to free the people from their economic hardship following job and income losses.”
They said they have also agreed to strengthen the functions of Parliament to become a responsible and constructive institution and to provide checks and balances on the executive to be more transparent and ensure the needs of the people are taken care of.
They also agreed on the importance of judiciary independence and institutional reforms.
“Mutual agreements were reached to empower the functions of Parliament as a responsible and constructive institution, check and balance of the executive’s governance for more transparency and meet the peoples’ need.
“I, along with the opposition leaders, also agreed and understood the utmost importance of the independence of the judiciary, institutional reform as well as good governance to ensure a more conducive environment for the people and the country in the context of Malaysian Family,” said Ismail Sabri.