Dr M: Anwar doesn’t care about Malay unity

The former prime minister wants the Malays to unite under the BN banner and not to fall for the opposition's fairytales.

ALOR STAR: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today that PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim “doesn’t care about Malay unity, he just wants to be prime minister”.

He urged Malaysians to be wary of Anwar, whom some touted as a “hero”.

Dr Mahathir then recounted the history of his former protege during the latter’s days in Umno and his ambition to become prime minister.

The country’s longest-serving premier was speaking at a gathering organised by Perkasa, held at the Sultan Abdul Halim Stadium, which is just a stone’s throw from the house he grew up in.

About 800 turned up for the event billed as the start of Perkasa’s “’1Melayu, 1Bumi” movement.

Dr Mahathir said Anwar had succeeded in breaking the unity of the Malays until they became weak.

He added that Malays who were dissatisfied with Umno scouted around for this “champion” (Anwar) to realise their goal of breaking up Malay unity.

He also took a dig at Anwar over the controversial sex video scandal, saying that Anwar looked religious, but “behind” he was doing something else. This provoked laughter from the crowd.

He exhorted Malays to unite under the Barisan Nasional (BN) because the splitting of the Malays into PAS, Umno and PKR had made them weak.

He also said the general election, expected to be held this year, would be an important test for the Malays.

He warned them against rejecting BN and being swayed by the opposition’s “fairytales”.

He reminded the spectators that Umno was responsible for uniting Malays and gaining independence from the British.

Before that, they had been easily controlled by other groups such as the Chinese.

He also reminded the non-Malays that the Malays were only asking for a fair share of the economic pie.

Mahathir said that when PAS was formed, it caused Malays to fight among themselves, which was made worse when Anwar formed PKR after he was sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998.

Perkasa leader Ibrahim Ali said that “PAS does not think of Malay unity but only of taking power and Putrajaya.”