Mahathir: With Anwar, no further U-turn needed

Former PM says he has found common ground with Anwar Ibrahim in his efforts to overthrow Najib Razak and his government.

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says his “U-turn” allowed him to find common ground with parties opposed to Umno and BN, such as PKR’s Anwar Ibrahim.

In a blog post today, he said he had made his U-turn after Najib Razak’s own U-turn with Umno, which he claimed saw the prime minister abusing his powers and basing his regime on the motto of “cash is king”.

Citing the RM2.6 billion channelled into Najib’s accounts and the replacement of rule of law with “open corruption”, Mahathir said it was then that he lost his belief in “Najib’s Umno”.

“I turned away from it, and I set myself on a course to destroy this leader who works against the Malays, against Islam, against Malaysia – the fundamentals of Umno’s struggle.

“In the effort to destroy the demon, I found common ground with the parties opposed to Umno and BN.

“I found common ground with Anwar Ibrahim. I found that Anwar and me can work together after I had made my U-turn.”

Mahathir was first accused of making U-turns after an interview conducted by The Guardian earlier this month.

In the interview, he said Anwar should be released from jail and allowed to contest in parliamentary elections.

He added that Anwar was the “victim of a political vendetta” and had been “unfairly treated”.

“The decision of the court was obviously influenced by the government and I think the incoming (opposition) government would be able to persuade the king to give a full pardon for Anwar.

“In which case, he would be able to participate in politics and become prime minister. I can have no objection to that,” he was quoted as saying.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Azalina Othman Said subsequently accused him of “frequently making U-turns”, reminding him that Anwar’s expulsion from the government had occurred during Mahathir’s rule in 1998.

She said Mahathir’s words also revealed the opposition’s actual attitude in willing to trade off their principles because they want to fulfil their personal interests.

Today, Mahathir said no further U-turn was needed as his collaboration with Anwar was to overthrow Najib and his government.

“Thieves should not rule this great nation. Thieves who are condemned by the whole world and are laughed by all and sundry should not be allowed to go on running any country,” he said.

“That is the objective of my collaborating with Anwar. No further U-turn is needed. It had already been made.”

On Najib’s claim that Mahathir was only supporting Anwar because of his concern over the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) into the losses suffered by Bank Negara due to foreign exchange (forex) trading in the 1990s, Mahathir said the entire exercise was in order to implicate him.

He added that no RCI had been set up to investigate the 1MDB losses despite the enormous evidence available.

“The RCI on currency trading by Bank Negara more than 30 years ago is not about seeking justice but is clearly a desperate effort by Najib to silence his detractors. It will not work.” -FMT