Anwar has no hope of becoming PM, says Dr M

PETALING JAYA: There is no hope for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to make a political comeback and become Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

“I don’t think he has any hope of ever achieving whatever he wants to achieve. Of course, he wants to be a Prime Minister. He will never get that support,” he said in a 15-minute interview with Sharanjit Leyl on the Asia Today programme on BBC yesterday.

Dr Mahathir was asked about Anwar’s chances of making a political comeback in view of the upcoming general elections.

Asked why he was of the opinion that Anwar could not achieve his ambition, Dr Mahathir said it was because Anwar was losing his followers very fast and that they no longer trusted his sincerity.

“You can tell people something and people will believe you for a short time but later on, they are bound to discover whether you are telling the truth or you are lying to them,” he said.

On whether he thought that Malaysians valued his contributions to the nation, Dr Mahathir said many appreciated his contributions but did not openly show it.

Asked whether he was sorry over his past controversial and unpopular remarks about the Jews and other groups, Dr Mahathir said: “I feel that I have to say what I believe in. A lot of people may not like what I’ve said but it has to be said.”

To a question whether he thought that the West had become overly prejudiced against Muslims worldwide particularly after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, he said: “Yes, I think so because they refuse to accept the truth regarding the causes of all these things (terror attacks). They are in a state of absolute denial.”

Dr Mahathir pointed out that the problem with the West was that they have oppressed the Muslims who lacked a huge military force to fight back.

“These people have resorted to what we call terror attacks,” he said.

Asked to comment on the terror alert in Britain after two explosives-laden cars were discovered in London, he said: “Well, there are going to be more of these things.

“You just can examine 1.3 billion Muslims but that is not going to help you stop them from acting that way because they feel aggrieved,” he said.

-from: http://thestar.com.my-