Pakatan Harapan chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was barred from visiting jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim at the Cheras Rehabilitation Hospital.
Mahathir said he was told by the police officers that they could not allow him to visit Anwar due to “orders from above”.
“They (prison department personnel) only said they received orders from someone up high – which means the minister of Home Affairs – that I’m not allowed to see Anwar,” Mahathir said.
“I wanted to visit him just to thank him for everything,” he said.
Some 30 Prisons Department personnel led by the Sungai Buloh prison director Abdul Kadir Rais were reportedly stationed outside Anwar’s ward barring entry.
Mahathir arrived at the hospital at 4.15pm, accompanied by PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and Pribumi Youth Chief Syed Saddiq.
Approximately 35 minutes later, after meeting with Prison Department officials, Mahathir and Nurul Izzah informed reporters that authorities had rejected their request to meet Anwar.
Visibly upset, Mahathir said he only wanted to see Anwar to thank him for consenting to his nomination as Pakatan Harapan’s prime minister-designate.
“I wanted to visit Anwar to say thanks for not opposing the choice of myself as prime minister.
“When PH reached its consensus on who should lead the coalition, I needed the support of all the four parties in the coalition.
“Anwar has a long history with me and it’s not easy for him to accept the consensus for me to be the PM candidate.
He slammed the decision to bar him as a first in the country.
“I am sad that our democratic country has come to this (stage) where a dictator has barred me from seeing someone in prison.
“They called me a dictator but I have never done this before and this has never happened before.
“This so-called democratic country has now forbidden me from visiting someone who is sick.
“This is why everyone has to support our efforts to topple Najib (Razak), who is now a dictator,” he said.
Nurul Izzah said the decision to bar Mahathir was arbitrary and uncalled for as Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz were allowed to meet Anwar in November.
According to her, Mahathir had been planning to visit Anwar since the latter was hospitalised in November 2016 but the meeting was delayed due to Mahathir’s health and busy work schedule.
Mahathir’s last known meeting with Anwar was on Sept 5, 2016, where the two met for the first time in 18 years.
The former premier had gone to the Kuala Lumpur High Court in Jalan Duta, where Anwar was attending a hearing challenging the National Security Council (NSC) Act 2016.
Mahathir dismissed the possibility of him appealing the decision to bar him from visiting Anwar.
“In the country now, when you write to the government, they do not reply.
“When we submitted the proposal to the RoS (Registrar of Societies) to approve PH, they did not reply. When we appealed, they didn’t reply.
“I can send a hundred appeals but it won’t work,” he said.
Anwar is currently serving a five-year sentence in Sungai Buloh prison for his second sodomy charge and is scheduled to be released on June 8.
He is in the hospital receiving treatment following surgery on his right shoulder in Nov 12, 2017, after suffering a severe injury in an accident while travelling in a Prison’s Department vehicle.