PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has refused to be drawn into a verbal jousting match with the Selangor sultan.

"It is his majesty's personal view, and with all due respect, I refuse to debate the matter," he told reporters in Shah Alam.

Anwar, whose party was reprimanded twice by the palace during the Selangor menteri besar crisis, was asked to comment on the sultan’s decree last Friday.

The ruler had blamed PKR for the crisis, which had dragged on for months.

The sultan appointed PKR deputy president Azmin Ali to helm the state despite the party insisting on its president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

Meanwhile, Anwar stressed that instead of locking horns with the palace, he preferred to ensure that the PKR menteri besar executes his duties for the well-being of the people.

Citing the previous administration of Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, the PKR leader said several issues affecting the people such as the poor students in Universiti Selangor (Unisel) were overlooked.

“Do we want to always be proud that the Pakatan Rakyat government is clean, rich with huge reserves but the children here cannot continue to pursue their tertiary education?” he asked.

‘Assist poor students’

Anwar also wants Azmin to assist poor students at the state-owned tertiary institution Unisel, who are not allowed to sit for their examinations for not being able to pay their tuition fees.

He said several Unisel students have reported not being able sit for examinations and some had decided to drop out for not being able to pay their tuition fees and fines which were also imposed.

“We have voiced out this problem for many years, not to allow this to happen. There must be effort from the state. I have asked the new MB and the vice-chancellor not to resort to such matters if they truly come from poor families as they must be allowed to sit for their examinations,” said Anwar.

Hence, he hopes that Azmin could discuss this issue so as to find a new mechanism to resolve this.

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