Dr M says it again: Anwar is my successor

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has once again reiterated that de factoPakatan Harapan leader Anwar Ibrahim will succeed him as prime minister.

Mahathir, who recently returned as the seventh prime minister 15 years after retiring as its fourth, said this during an interview with Malay daily Sinar Harian yesterday.

When asked who would be his successor, Mahathir said succinctly: "Anwar will replace me."

"(It has been decided) Prime Minister Dr Mahathir, deputy Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim,” he said.

Mahathir added that for the time being, there was no timeframe set for him to hold the post before handing over the reins.

The proposal for him to stay as prime minister for two years is not set in stone. “It can be earlier, it can be later.”

The matter of Anwar becoming the eighth prime minister had been decided by the Harapan coalition prior to the 14th general election.

At the time, he had been serving out his sentence for the second sodomy conviction, and was only slated to be released this month.

Anwar had been Harapan predecessor Pakatan Rakyat’s pick for prime minister since the 13th general election.

Mahathir repeated his pledge to hand over the reins to Anwar just before the election, but hinted that it could take longer than the two years initially promised.

Following their win in the polls, Harapan then sought and obtained a full pardon for Anwar on May 16.

Although repeated many times, doubt persist over whether Mahathir would indeed make way for Anwar, due to the contentious past between the two.

Anwar had been Mahathir's protégé, and served as his deputy during his first reign as premier.

However, he was unceremoniously sacked from cabinet in 1998, before being tried and convicted for sodomy and corruption.

This led to the Reformasi movement, and eventually the formation of PKR.

Since his pardon and release from prison, Anwar has been raising eyebrows with a slew of meetings with the various state rulers.

This was dismissed by a PKR leader, however, who insisted there is no deeper meaning behind the meetings. - Mkini