RANTAU, Negeri Sembilan — Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president Anwar Ibrahim on Thursday (April 4) said that the transition of power between him and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is "quite settled" among the four parties of the Pakatan Harapan coalition.

"The transition issue as far as the leadership is concerned is quite settled," Mr Anwar told CNA at the sidelines of an event to celebrate the party's 20th anniversary.

"Mahathir has repeatedly reiterated the position. Anwar will succeed, and for now as agreed, Mahathir will be prime minister, (Wan Azizah) will be deputy prime minister," he said, referring to the agreement between him and Dr Mahathir last year that the premiership would be passed on in two years.

"More important is the position of all the four parties in the coalition," he added. "There's no... different opinion when it comes to the issue of transition."

Mr Anwar, who is the Member of Parliament for Port Dickson, said that space must be given to let Dr Mahathir "chart this new agenda".

"I honestly do not sense any problem when it comes to transition. And I have said repeatedly that we must give the space, the confidence to Mahathir, to chart this new agenda, the reform agenda," he said. "And he has precisely done that."

The politician also spoke about how far PKR and its political reform has come as the party celebrates its anniversary.

"It is a reform movement committed to transforming what we consider an obsolete, repressive society to a more transparent, democratic system of government," he said.

"And I think, although initially it was associated with the freeing of Anwar, it (has) always held and focused on the fundamentals of judicial reform, media freedom and free and fair democratic elections."

When asked whether a multi-racial approach was still the way to go, in light of recent by-election wins by the opposition Barisan Nasional, backed by Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), Mr Anwar stressed the importance of engaging with all races.

He said: "There's a sense of insecurity, there is somewhat the concern of a Malay backlash. But I think we need to engage with the people, to say look, finally, it is still a Malaysian agenda.

"We cannot progress and proceed by ignoring the Malays," he said. "At the same time, we cannot proceed or progress by ignoring or marginalising the Chinese and Indians or the Ibans and the Kadazans. I believe therefore that finally reason will prevail as you have seen in the past." CNA

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