PM Anwar warns end of ‘culture of plunder’ as Johor crowd told clean politics must prevail

MUAR, July 6 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has issued a stern warning that the era of the “culture of plunder” and politics centred on enriching cronies is over, stressing the Madani Government’s commitment to producing a clean leadership regardless of race.

He said the government’s primary focus was now to “clean up” the country’s administrative system of entrenched corrupt practices to ensure that every sen of Malaysia’s wealth was fully returned for the benefit of the people.

Acknowledging that certain quarters continued to exploit narrow racial sentiments, Anwar urged the public to judge leaders based on integrity and honesty rather than political rhetoric aimed at concealing past abuses.

“If you ask me, I do not want just anyone to become a leader. I want Malays who are good, honest and not corrupt to become leaders. I want Chinese who are good and not corrupt to become leaders,” he said when speaking at the ‘Johor Ke Depan, Undi Harapan’ programme for the Serom state constituency in Sungai Mati here tonight.

Also present were Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh.

Anwar, who is also Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, said the practice of abusing power to enrich family members and cronies through government contracts must end immediately to enable Malaysia to continue progressing and earn global respect.

“It is not about using power to say, ‘This is the time I want to enrich myself, make my children rich or award contracts to my wife.’ That was the old culture, the culture of plunder. The government must safeguard the system and put a stop to such behaviour,” he said.

Anwar said attempts by the opposition to create political pressure at this time were driven by a personal agenda to regain control of the federal government.

The Prime Minister also gave his assurance that no one would be protected by the government if found to be involved in corruption during his tenure.

He urged the people, especially voters in Johor, to exercise their rights in the Johor State Election by rejecting leaders who lacked integrity to safeguard the future of the next generation.

The programme in Sungai Mati was the eighth attended by the Prime Minister today as part of his Johor State Election campaign, completing a total of 15 engagements over two days in the state.

The 16th Johor State Election will see 172 candidates contesting 56 state seats, with polling set for July 11 and early voting on July 7.

For the latest news on the election, visit https://prn.bernama.com/johor. — Bernama