ALOR SETAR (BERNAMA) - Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president-elect Anwar Ibrahim admitted that if were he to hold the position of prime minister today, he would be facing difficulties to manage and revitalise the nation's economic woes due to the burden of too much debt.

He said holding the number one position was not an easy task, as nobody expected that the economy would be this bad, and not to mention the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal which had tarnished the nation's image in the eyes of the world.

"The new government is facing a lot of challenges, even if I am the prime minister, it will not be easy; no one could have predicted our economy to drop like this, and made worse by issues like Felda and 1MDB," he said when opening the Kedah PKR and Perlis PKR annual general assembly on Sunday (Sept 2).

Datuk Seri Anwar added that he was surprised that at this point, there were Umno leaders who criticised the new government in many ways when the damage originated from them.

According to him, PKR would not isolate candidates who lost in the election; instead, they would be brought together to lead the party in the future.

"In this regard, I would like to advise the party members to choose the leaders who are honest, good, true to the struggle, not arrogant, not showing off wealth but humble and standing firm to defend the party," he said.

The party elections will take place from Sept 14 to Oct 13 nationwide.