Dr M: People no longer trust Anwar

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the international community is beginning to doubt Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and as such the government should not worry or prevent him from going abroad to stop the opposition leader from continuing to insult Malaysia.

Furthermore, said the former prime minister, if Anwar were prevented from going abroad, it would create anger against the government, and the government would be facing various allegations.

“We should not prevent him from going abroad. I don’t think we should be scared of him. (If) we do that, people will be more angry with us, hate the government. Then, people will say all kinds of things against the government.

“It’s all right, I think the other people too no longer trust him, who wants to believe. To me, I don’t care. They are not the ones who will be voting, the voters are the people here,” he told reporters after visiting the Eastern Pacific Industrial Corporation (Epic) Berhad at the Kemaman Supply Base, Teluk Kalong Industrial Area here today.

Dr Mahathir (picture)earlier gave a lecture entitled “Challenges faced by Muslims currently” at the Diamond Hall, Kemaman Municipal Council, organised by the Terengganu Development Institute in collaboration with the Terengganu Community Development Agency, attended by almost 5,000 civil servants and members of the community in the area.

Also present were Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said and his wife Toh Puan Norliza Mahmud and State Assembly Speaker Datuk Tengku Putera Tengku Awang.

During the debate in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, several backbenchers suggested that Anwar be barred from going abroad to prevent him from continuing to criticise Malaysia.

Commenting further, Dr Mahathir said the more often Anwar went abroad to criticise his own country, the PKR adviser would create a more negative image for himself.

Dr Mahathir said it was time that PKR supporters and members joined Umno because it was proven that the PKR was created merely for the interest of certain individuals instead of championing the interest of the people.

He said the party should be dissolved immediately because its existence would only divide the Malays and Muslims in the country.

“Whoever is responsible for dividing the Muslims should be totally rejected instead of making him a leader to the extent that he would create problems among the Muslims themselves.

“Muslims should unite in a mammoth party (Umno) which had been playing its role all this while to develop the country and champion the cause of the people.

“Surely we don’t want a leader who does not know how to serve the people but only wants to become a prime minister,” he said.

Dr Mahathir also said that the success of the Barisan Nasional in the by-elections in Galas, Kelantan, and Batu Sapi in Sabah recently should not be used as a yardstick for the government to hold a general election in the near future.

He said the Barisan Nasional government still had a lot of time to plan a strategy to win the support of the people so that more people would return to the party.

“Our victory in a particular area cannot be used as a measure (of support). Are the factors for the BN victory in that area the same as in the other areas?

“So, I think the leadership knows about this matter,” he said.

On talk that the 13th general election might be held simultaneously with the Sarawak state election next year, Dr Mahathir said the peninsula had a lot of time and there was no need to rush and have the elections at the same time.

“If I were the prime minister, I would wait first,” he said.

He said Sarawak had no choice because it must hold the state election next year when the mandate for the present government ended.

“But here, we have a choice,” he added. — Bernama