MALAYSIA’S former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed and his longtime political foe Anwar Ibrahim set tongues wagging Monday when both men acted surprisingly cordial with one another during a court appearance in Kuala Lumpur.
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Dr Mahathir was seen shaking hands with Anwar, his former Deputy Prime Minister whom he sacked in 1998 and later accused him of sodomy.
Anwar was sentenced to five years’ jail in 2013 for sodomy, on a charge he and his supporters call politically motivated. “And I presume, therefore, that he supports the reform agenda”, Anwar said outside the courtroom in a video on social media.
Nur Jazlan added that Dr Mahathir’s influence had waned and many of today’s youth are not familiar with the former prime minister’s legacy. He forgot that 20 years ago many left Umno for PKR because of what he did to Anwar. Many of Anwar’s supporters blame Mahathir for being behind the incarceration of the former.
“I appreciate what is done by Dr Mahathir, to meet Anwar”.
Nur Jazlan was asked on the meeting between Mahathir and Anwar in the Kuala Lumpur High Court where Anwar had a case relating to the National Security Council.
Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is Anwar’s wife, said this was the first meeting between the two former UMNO leaders after 18 years.
Dr Mahathir, who led the country as prime minister for 22 years until 2003, said he turned up to support Anwar’s efforts to stop the controversial National Security Council (NSC) Act 2016 from being enforced.
In court yesterday, Mahathir was accompanied by opposition stalwarts such as PKR deputy president and Selangor Chief Minister Azmin Ali, and other senior PKR MPs including Chua Tian Chang and Zuraida Kamaruddin, among others.
The Act has been criticised by the Opposition and human rights organisations on the grounds that it would give the Prime Minister absolute powers.
Mahathir sacked Anwar in 1998 as the deputy prime minister.
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Article 66 (4A) goes on to say that should the Agong not assent to a Bill within the stipulated time, “it shall become law at the expiration of the time specified in that Clause in the like manner as if he has assented thereto”.
