Anwar thanks Dr M for vote of confidence

PKR president Anwar Ibrahim has thanked Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for the vote of confidence in his leadership.

Anwar said this in reference to Mahathir's interview with the New Straits Times, in which the latter described his designated successor as an "acceptable" option with notable leadership qualities.

"I read Mahathir's interview and I thank him for the confidence he showed in me, and I appreciate it," he told journalists this afternoon on the campaign trail for the Rantau by-election.

In the interview published today, Mahathir was asked about his views about Anwar – whom he had sacked as deputy prime minister in 1998 and had jailed, but later cooperated with to oust former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

"Between (former prime minister) Najib Abdul Razak and Anwar, I think Najib is a worse leader than Anwar. The worst leader," he was quoted as saying.

"I think that to have Anwar replace a person like Najib is more acceptable than to have Najib carry on, so I decided that I would work with Anwar – whatever I may have said about him before, what he has said about me before.

"I thought that our working together was far more important, in order to displace Najib, than for us to quarrel, because I knew if we didn’t work together, Najib would be the next prime minister and that would be disastrous for the country."

Leadership qualities

Prior to last year's general election, Mahathir had agreed to be Pakatan Harapan's choice for interim prime minister, and later hand over the reins to Anwar.

When asked on whether Anwar would be able to keep the ruling coalition together, the prime minister vouched for the former's leadership qualities.

"I think he has been leading a considerable part of Harapan. In fact, he was the architect of Pakatan Rakyat. Of course, Pakatan Rakyat failed because they were not that cohesive. 

"But after we came together, we were able to work much more closely.

"The fact remains that he was from Umno, and Umno, of course, was not very liked by the opposition. He left Umno and he was able to bring DAP, PAS even, and his party together, so he has leadership quality," he told NST.

Elaborating on the interview, Anwar concurred with Mahathir's opinion of Najib.

"Based on the losses (suffered by the country) and his management, as well as personal life and family, there has been no other prime minister in our history like him," he said.

Najib is presently facing 42 charges of money laundering and corruption in relation to the 1MDB scandal, with more charges expected to follow.

International investigators believe at least US$4.5 billion (RM18.41 billion) was misappropriated from 1MDB. Najib had denied wrongdoing or taking public funds for personal gain.

 -Mkini