Mahathir says Anwar is part of his plan to remove Najib
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad told the Wall Street Journal in an interview this week, Anwar Ibrahim the jailed leader of the opposition and his former protege, is part of his plans to form a solid coalition to oust Prime Minister Najib Razak from power.
He said he met earlier in September with Anwar Ibrahim and this was part of a plan to create a coalition of opposition politicians capable of ousting Mr. Najib in the next election.
Earlier, pressed by local pro-government medias, Mahathir was reported as saying he was not pushing for the release of Anwar at this stage of his confrontation with Najib.
But he did say releasing Anwar would be part of the new opposition coalition’s plans to consolidate itself against the massive Barisan Nasional (BN) machinery.
The opposition Party Keadilaan Rakyat (PKR) had urged Mahathir to help press for the early release of Anwar, who is serving a 5 years jail sentence for sodomy.
Anwar and the opposition has always insisted the sodomy case was bogus.
1MDB affecting economy
On the other hand, Wall Street Journal reported Dr Mahathir said the 1MDB scandal was negatively affecting the Malaysian economy by weakening the currency and increasing the national debt burden. 1MDB has denied wrongdoing.
As a result he said the solution to the problems in Malaysia was to remove Najib.
“This man has abused his position and has lost billions of dollars,” he said to WSJ.com
Najib has denied wrongdoing.
His spokesman said in a statement on Tuesday that Dr Mahathir has for two years “waged a campaign to unseat a democratically-elected government.”
The Malaysian attorney general has cleared Mr. Najib of any crime.
But Najib is accused of stifling dissent and muzzling the media, be they online or offline in a bid to rally support in his favour.
The opposition will organise a mass rally called Bersih 4 in November.
It is expected to be an occasion that will see all the opponents to Najib joining hands in a long street walk, demanding the PM’s resignation and searching for answers in the 1MDB saga.
On July 15 Anwar welcomed the plans by his political nemesis, Mahathir, to form a new party, saying it was time for all opposition parties to unite and work together.
Mahathir’s party is called Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
Photo: AFP file pix of Anwar and Mahathir at the height of the duo’s magical rule