Dr Mahathir Mohamad today claimed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was “cold and critical” towards him when he was prime minister in the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.
Mahathir said despite securing Anwar’s royal pardon for his past offences, the PKR president went on to visit everyone, but not him, ostensibly to show gratitude.
“He met a lot of people (to rally for support).
“He met rulers and foreigners instead of supporting me. He was critical of me,” the nonagenarian said in a Malaysia Gazette interview.
He said Anwar had also become “critical” of him over time, which made him think twice about appointing him as a Cabinet minister.
“If I were to drop a minister from the Cabinet and appoint him (Anwar), I’d have to think, what is the benefit?”
He denied going back on his promise to hand over the top post to Anwar, but developing events at that time derailed his plans.
“I already promised to step down. When that happens, he can take the position.
“I promised after Apec, now even before Apec I left the post,” Mahathir said.
Mahathir had previously promised an eventual handover of the post of prime minister after a few years to Anwar as part of a PH consensus prior to the 2018 polls.
Mahathir recalled how he admitted Anwar, a fierce Islamic activist in the 1970s, into Umno in 1982 despite resistance from other party members.
In Umno, Mahathir, whose first tenure as prime minister was from 1981 to 2003, said Anwar rose through the ranks and became his deputy in both the party and government in 1993.
“But when he became the deputy prime minister, he tried to topple me,” he added.
Mahathir accused Anwar, whom he sacked as deputy premier in 1998, of using proxies and instigating protests to oust him.
He also accused Anwar of helping cronies amass enormous wealth and specifically mentioned current Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as one of them.
“That is Anwar’s method,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mahathir said Anwar’s recent announcement that he had majority support in Parliament was also questionable, as a similar previous event never materialised.
“We knew that he never had the majority before. This time, I don’t know. If true, then Muhyiddin (Yassin) has fallen,” he said.
Mahathir went on to say present premier Muhyiddin did not have strong support in Parliament and is in a precarious position.
“No Malaysian prime minister has this narrow of a majority. Even if two or three people reject Muhyiddin, his government will fall,” he said.