KOTA KINABALU: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has dismissed speculation that he had held talks with Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at a Maulidur Rasul event in Selangor on Tuesday.
“There was no discussion between me and Anwar. There is nothing more about it,” he said when asked to comment on reports of his meeting with Anwar.
Abdullah told this to reporters here on Wednesday after visiting the Sepangar naval base.
He added that he was invited by well-known Ustaz Sheikh Mahmud Al-Mazjub to celebrate Malulidur Rasul as well as to mark the ending of a 40-year spiritual development of the Uztaz.
“I was having lunch with Sheikh Mahmud, when Anwar came. We listened as Sheikh Mahmud talked during the lunch,” he said, in dismissing the speculation of bloggers about the political implications to the transition of power to Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak following the unexpected ‘meeting’.
“Sheikh Mahmud brought up various matters, and Anwar and I listened to him. There was no discussion between us (Anwar and Abdullah),” Abdullah said.
Asked if a date had been set for the transition of power from him to his deputy Najib, Abdullah replied: “I will be making a formal announcement soon. Najib and I discuss various issues whenever we meet.”
Asked if he had a date in mind for the transition of power, Abdullah replied: “Of course there must be a date.”
On the absence of many Opposition MPs from Parliament, when Najib was tabling the mini-budget on Tuesday, Abdullah said the Opposition was more interested in political play acting.
“The people are fed up with politics, and want the economy strengthened so that the country can withstand the global financial crisis,” he said.
Meanwhile, Anwar said on Wednesday the ‘lunch meeting’ with Abdullah was merely a “coincidence.”The Star
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