Dr Mahathir says he regrets 'antagonising' Anwar and alleges PM is now seeking revenge

image is not available — Tun Mahathir regretted his actions towards Anwar in the past. Image Credit: Malay Mail

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is now deeply regretful for "antagonizing" Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, whom he has now accused of "trying to seek revenge".

Asked whether he has any regrets, he immediately replies that he “antagonized my deputy, who is now the Prime Minister. And now he’s trying to seek revenge.” [Paragraph 20]

Dr. Mahathir suggested in an interview with TIME magazine that this might have been made worse by the failure to transition power in 2020 following the fall of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration he led.

"I lost my job when the government fell apart before he could succeed me. Tun Mahathir was quoted as stating, “I can't give him something that I no longer have myself.”

“But before he could take over from me, the government collapsed, so I lost my position,” shrugs Mahathir. “I cannot give to him something that I myself no longer had.” [Paragraph 23]

Following two days of strong speculation that he might lead Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia to leave the existing coalition PH and form a new government with fresh leadership, Dr. Mahathir resigned as prime minister in February 2020.

This retelling could be generously described as selective. The government collapsed in 2020 because Mahathir resigned in order to form a new party and stand for power again, sparking a political crisis as Anwar publicly declared he’d been “betrayed.” [Paragraph 24]

The action followed plans by a part of the PKR led by Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali to create a new coalition government with Bersatu, Umno, and PAS. Later on, they would establish the Perikatan Nasional government.

Dr. Mahathir also called Anwar "cut from the same cloth" as Datuk Seri Najib Razak, whom he criticized for the corruption scandal at 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), during the interview.

For Mahathir, Anwar is cut from the same cloth as Najib. “Anwar is a smart operator,” he says. “Obviously, you don’t see him taking money, but we know that lots of people are corrupt under his government.” [Paragraph 26]

This is due to Tun Daim Zainuddin and the sons of Dr. Mahathir, Tan Sri Mirzan and Tan Sri Mokhzani, are the subject of multiple investigations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Last March, Mahathir’s two eldest sons revealed that they had been ordered by Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission into assisting with an investigation into their father. More than 10 top former allies of Mahathir have also been targeted by graft and tax evasion probes for alleged crimes going back decades [Paragraph 25]

Dr. Mahathir added, "Anwar is a smart operator," and he claimed that people working for Anwar were corrupted.

Anwar has denied smearing Dr. Mahathir and any accusations of corruption, according to TIME, claiming that his government is “doing everything we can to combat corruption, no apologies about that.”

(Anwar steadfastly denies he is targeting his former tormentor as well as graft allegations, telling TIME last August: “We are doing everything we can to combat corruption, no apologies about that.”) [Paragraph 26]

Dr. Mahathir "has spectacularly fallen out with every single one of his successors," according to the interview, which also implied that the fact raises “uncomfortable questions.”

When Dr. Mahathir fired his then-deputy in 1998 during his first term as prime minister, the animosity between him and Anwar began.

Yet the fact that Mahathir has spectacularly fallen out with every single one of his successors does beg uncomfortable questions.

“What does this say about the system that Mahathir left behind him?” asks Francis Hutchinson, coordinator of the Malaysia Studies Program at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. “If you don’t think you have worthy successors, should you not have a system with more checks and balances?”

[Paragraph 27 & 28]

https://time.com/7282169/mahathir-mohamad-malaysia-prime-minister-hundred-years-trump-world-interview/

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