PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is willing to face anyone who questioned his defence towards DAP, a component party in the unity government.
During his policy speech at the 2023 PKR National Congress tonight, Anwar said there was no reason to insult them by saying that DAP was a threat to Islam and the Malays.
"I want to say that even if defending DAP will cause support for me to diminish, I want to say that I am only defending rights, and I am willing to confront anyone in this.
"We have introduced various programmes for Felda, for Muslims, for Malays and Bumiputera, and even to fulfill the needs of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement (MA63).
"Not once has a DAP representative (in cabinet) opposed these programmes," said Anwar, who is also PKR president.
In a veiled jab at Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang, he questioned how it was reasonable for someone who labels themselves as a "haji" or "ustaz" if they degraded and insulted another race.
"How can we portray ourselves with Islamic values when we are prone to degrading, insulting, and falsely accusing someone without basis?"
In the past, Hadi had repeatedly claimed that DAP had a "Chinese agenda", and had also alleged that the party was "pro-communist".
Hadi had also claimed that DAP was "anti-Islam" and that their leaders were also "anti-Malay".
Meanwhile, Anwar reminded delegates that it was important to take care of all Malaysians, whether the majority, the minority, including the Sabahans or Sarawakians.
The Finance Minister also warned against using issues faced by the government in ironing out details surrounding the MA63 to plant the idea of secession.
"I want to remind all of you. You can criticise and advise, but if you falsely accuse, insult and use sentiments of race and religion to create divisions within the territories, we will take stern action," he added.