PM: NO DISCUSSION WITH ANWAR

KOTA KINABALU (Malaysia), March 12 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi has refuted reports that he had a discussion with opposition
People's Justice Party (PKR) advisor Anwar Ibrahim during a religious event in
the state of Selangor on Tuesday.

Abdullah said he attended the event on the invitation of prominent religious
figure Syeikh Mahmud al-Majzub.

"I was invited and I went, and when we were in the midst of having lunch,
Anwar Ibrahim came. He was invited to sit and have lunch. That's all. No
discussion.

"Syeikh Mahmud conveyed his view to me about the various problems in the
world today and he stressed that it was important for leaders of this country to
be fair and to always ensure peace.

"He (Syeikh Mahmud) spoke to me; he did not speak to Anwar. Nothing more
than that," Abdullah, who is Defence Minister, told reporters after visiting the
Sepanggar Naval Base in this capital city of East Malaysia state of Sabah
Wednesday.

Asked on a speculative report carried by Malaysiakini pertaining to their
presence at the event, Abdullah said, the Internet news portal was "making
assumptions."

To a question on a report by the Malaysian Insider, claiming that he had
told his deputy Najib Razak about the date for the transfer of power,
Abdullah said, "I will have to make a formal announcement on that."

Asked whether he already had a date in mind, Abdullah said, "We have to have
a date."

When asked about opposition members of Parliament who were absent when
Najib, who is Finance Minister, was tabling the second stimulus package in the
Lower House of Parliament on Tuesday, Abdullah said, it showed that the
opposition members were not interested in what the government wanted to do in
the mini budget.

"They don't care; they could be just playing politics. They keep on saying
that the economy is important and that they want to know what the government is
going to do about it.

"But when the government was making announcement in parliament, they were
not listening," he said.

"To me, this reflects their ungentlemanly attitude. I believe that the
people themselves don't like to see this kind of attitude.

"The government is serious in spurring the economy... to ensure that there
will not be a recession. That is why we allocated a huge amount of money to
stimulate the economy," he added.
-- BERNAMA