.jpg)
By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright June 2023
If Ibrahim Ali was to be believed, then the 'Anwar: Untold Story' as presented in the film is incomplete.
But the cinema is often meant to entertain rather than present the absolute truth of events being shared like a documentary on the History Channel, for instance, that goes to great lengths to prove the facts.
Also, for every side of a story, there is always another waiting to be told.
Ibrahim's video clip tells a story about events leading to Anwar's dismissal, which is making the rounds on social media.
Proceed with caution because this account by Ibrahim is also uncorroborated.
I have watched the whole video but my discussion here is based upon what has been published by MalaysiaNow on May 29 and I am quoting both sources liberally to make my point that the story as told by Ibrahim would have saved Anwar from going to jail and avoid all unnecessary embarrassment for everyone involved.
I would like to begin from the time Ibrahim Ali said he received a "rare" call from Anwar Ibrahim just two days before Sept 2 1998, asking for an urgent meeting.
Ibrahim said when he arrived at Anwar's house, the latter broke down and hugged him.
Ibrahim recounted when he asked why the urgent request, Anwar replied, "Don't you know, Dr. Mahathir wants to sack me within the next few days."
Ibrahim said Anwar then asked him to go and convince Mahathir the PM then to change his mind, with the hope that Mahathir would give him (Anwar) "another chance."
Ibrahim said he went to meet Mahathir, pleading with him to "give Anwar another chance."
Ibrahim said the prime minister then proposed a way out for Anwar to save face and prevent allegations from becoming public.
Dr. Mahathir told Ibrahim "you go back and meet with Anwar, and tell him to write his resignation letter, that he resigned because he did not agree with the economic policies and financial matters at the time, because our country was being attacked by rogue currency speculators."
The last statement refers to the Asian financial crisis that led to ringgit dropping to an all-time low of RM4.88 to one US dollar by January 1998.
Ibrahim went on to say that "During his meeting, Dr. Mahathir told him that Anwar could cite economic disagreements instead of allegations of immorality as a reason for his resignation."
According to Ibrahim, Dr. Mahathir said, "No problem. Of course, people will be angry with me. I will take responsibility."
Ibrahim said Mahathir then told him that he had interviewed many people before being convinced that his deputy was not morally fit to take over the top office.
Ibrahim said he then made a final appeal on Anwar's behalf only to be rejected by Dr. Mahathir.
"No, Ibrahim!" he recalled Mahathir as saying. "Let me be destroyed. I will not ruin the country to give him the position of prime minister."
Anwar was sentenced to nine years in prison for sodomising Sukma Darmawan in 2000 and released in 2004 after winning a Federal Court appeal but the bench maintained in its judgment that the homosexual act did take place, a remark which Anwar failed to expunge from the records.
Tun Mahathir may be painted as evil by Anwar and his supporters but Ibrahim's account clearly shows a fair-minded man offering his protégé a way out to save face and embarrassment over allegations of immorality that until today is on the records in the courts of law.
Had Anwar resigned and walked away the story would have been different. He could have become Prime Minister with a clean record, sooner, instead of waiting 24 years for his dream job.
Mihar Dias is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact Newswav.
