Anwar became worse than those he wanted to reform - Dr M

 

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad opines that his successor and longtime rival Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has turned out worse than the very people he wanted to reform.

Anwar, who started the Reformasi movement in the late 90s, had once wished for the end of BN’s reign in government but is now working with the coalition in the current administration.

“If we look at Anwar before he was prime minister, his position was different. He wanted to revise, he wanted to reform.

“When he became prime minister, he became worse than the people he wanted to reform (in the first place),” Mahathir said on the latest episode of the ‘Keluar Sekejap’ podcast, hosted by former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan.

Mahathir cited the example of BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA) on all 47 of his corruption, criminal breach of trust (CBT), and money laundering charges back in September.

The DNAA was granted after the prosecution dropped all corruption charges against Zahid, despite the court’s ruling there was a prima facie case and that the deputy prime minister was ordered to enter his defence.

Mahathir said that he too was blamed for issues that cropped up during his tenure as prime minister and that Anwar too would be blamed for the current issues in the nation.

However, he claimed that, unlike Anwar, the former Langkawi MP has “consistently” maintained the same stance and principles throughout the years.

“When I became prime minister in the past, I had the same stance (which was to champion the rights of Malays). When I wasn’t prime minister, I still had the same stance.

“There was no difference,” said Mahathir who served as the fourth and seventh prime minister.

Unfulfilled promises

Asked if Anwar’s political rise was due to him, Mahathir responded in the affirmative - citing the former’s religious credentials.

“At that time, he (Anwar) seemed to be a good person. So, I gave him a chance,” he said.

“I brought him into Umno. At the time, he was seen as someone who held on strongly to religion.

“We hoped that he would inject his knowledge into Umno so that the party could be seen as having a strong hold on religion.

“However, when he entered the field and became the prime minister, he went against his promises and things that we hoped he would fix were not addressed,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mahathir said that he himself should not be blamed for the culture of bribery and corruption in Umno, which some argue stemmed during his term as the party president.

Instead, the former prime minister claimed that it was Anwar, who was the then Umno deputy president, who introduced the concept within the party before he was sacked in 1998.

“However, Anwar didn’t personally handle the money. He delegated it to his associates, granting them access,” he said.

Khairy then asked Mahathir why he did not take any action to stop the corrupt practice, to which the latter responded that it was not his duty.

“That was the job of an officer, not mine. When they saw irregularities, they didn’t have to wait for the prime minister to tell them what to do.

“That was not my job. That was the job of the police, the (then Anti-Corruption Agency). They should have taken action,” he said. - Mkini