Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim lashed out at critics of the government’s proposed Urban Renewal Act (URA), asserting that those opposing it have a hidden agenda to ensure Malays stay impoverished.

Addressing Finance Ministry staffers at a monthly assembly today, Anwar said his conscience does not allow him to stand by indifferently while urban poor residents live in squalid conditions.

“Should they be made to live that way for generations when we have...