BUKIT MERTAJAM, Aug 29 2026 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the Madani government has never supported gambling and has instead moved to curb it by cutting the number of special number forecast draws from 22 a year to eight.
Anwar, who is also finance minister, said the reduction was made after his administration took office.
“People say Anwar is a gambling boss. I do not support people gambling. Before I became prime minister, when the previous government was in power, the draws were 22 times a year,” he said at the launch of the Skim Usahawan Bangkit Madani Permatang Pauh scheme at Dewan Yayasan Aman in Penanti.
“I did it in stages. I brought it down from 22 times to eight times a year. Why are you scolding me for that?”
Anwar said the cut was one of the steps taken to restrain gambling activity and that he should not be blamed for policies carried out by earlier administrations.
His remarks came after Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor assigned blame to Anwar over a court ruling on licences for gambling premises in Kedah. The Federal Court recently dismissed the state government’s bid to overturn a decision that barred it from refusing to renew licences for pool betting and lottery operators.
The Finance Ministry has said the Madani government has not issued new gambling licences, that existing permits date back to approvals from the 1990s, and that the frequency of special draws was restored to eight times a year from January 2023 after being raised to 22 times a year under administrations between 2020 and 2022.
Anwar also said the government would continue to strengthen religious values and public morals through initiatives including Quran education programmes, adding that national development should not be measured by economic progress alone.
He later said Permatang Pauh still held a special place in his political life even though he now represents Tambun in Perak, describing the constituency as his hometown and the starting point of his career as a member of parliament.
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