Anwar said it is more important that those appointed to positions of power did their jobs properly, regardless of race and religion. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa

GEORGE TOWN, Feb 26 — There is no reason to question the integrity of non-Muslims in top positions as long as they conduct their duties responsibly, said PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The Port Dickson MP said if these officers continue to work responsibly, there was no reason to suspect that they are unjust in their decisions.

“There are many Malays who are entrusted with jobs, who would have done the job very well but some are also incapable, unjust or corrupt, similarly, the same with non-Malays,” he said in a brief press conference after delivering his keynote address at the Penang International Business and Investment Summit here.

He said it is more important to make sure the people given the responsibility did their jobs professionally, regardless of their race and religion.

Anwar was responding to Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who had questioned the appointment of non-Muslims as the attorney general, chief justice and finance minister.

Nazri reportedly said the three appointed to these positions could not be sworn in using the Quran as they were non-Muslims.

Anwar said the Muslims here swear on the Quran while in western countries, Christians swear on the Bible.

“I don’t think it is proper to suggest to the contrary or otherwise. It is more important to give support to the officers to conduct their affairs professionally and to dispense justice,” he said.

He acknowledged that there may have been concern by some Malays but this can be addressed differently.

“They feel marginalised but this has nothing to do with the race of the officers appointed, it is more to do with poverty and other issues, in this case, we have to avoid racial prejudices,” he said.

When asked what action he would take against Nazri if he were prime minister, Anwar said the country now has a different and more democratic environment.

“We must allow and respect their freedom of speech but we must also be given the right to counter any allegations,” he said.

He said this is why he took a strong stance against PAS President Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang’s remarks.

“I don’t believe such statements should be left unanswered but that does not mean I want to deny him his right to express himself,” he said, without detailing which remark he was referring to.

Anwar also commented on the recent Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission‘s (MACC) revelation that there were no evidences of PAS receiving funds from 1MDB.

He called on MACC to give a full report on this, saying that the public has been left confused on the issue.

“PAS has said it collected the funds from the public but it was from Umno, then they said they won the case against Clare but it was actually an out-of-court settlement,” he said referring to a libel suit PAS had filed against Sarawak Report’s Clare Rewcastle-Brown.

He wanted to know if PAS made any payment to Rewcastle-Brown in the out-of-court settlement.

“My question is this, has there been any payment to Clare by PAS? More than a million...but I can’t verify this, so the MACC need to give a full report on this so that there is no confusion,” he said, referring to the suit by Abdul Hadi against Rewcastle-Brown.

Abdul Hadi had sued Rewcastle-Brown after the latter claimed that about RM90 million in 1MDB funds were banked into PAS’ accounts.

He then withdrew the case, with an undisclosed out-of-court settlement in which Rewcastle-Brown did not retract the article in question.