Anwar did not deny sodomy, says Dr M
(The Malaysian Insider) – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said in his autobiography out today that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim did not deny accusations of sodomy before being sacked as deputy prime minister and should have succeeded him as prime minister if not for his own actions.
Dr Mahathir, who stepped down in 2003, said that when Anwar was hauled up before the Umno supreme council, he “never once referred to the question of homosexuality, focusing only on the affairs with women.”
In the book, the former prime minister also claimed that he had met four girls who said they were propositioned by Anwar for sex.
Anwar was subsequently sacked from government before being charged and jailed for sodomy and corruption.
“Anwar should have been the prime minister of Malaysia today. But if he is not, it is because of his own actions. He left me no choice but to remove him and I did what I thought was best for the country. I may have made many mistakes, but removing Anwar was not one of them,” he wrote.
“The belief that I dismissed him because I was afraid he would oust me is without basis. I dismissed him for two reasons only: he was unsuitable to continue serving in the government and he was unsuitable to succeed me as prime minister,” he added.
Dr Mahathir, who was PM from 1981 to 2003, wrote that when Anwar “declared that he had done nothing unusual and insisted that everyone, including all the supreme council members, had done such things” when defending himself before Umno’s top leadership.
In the book titled “A Doctor in the House: The Memoirs of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad,” he said that he had first been told about Anwar’s alleged homosexual activities in the early 1990s by then police chief Tun Hanif Omar.
Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister wrote that he was then given the book “50 Dalil Kenapa Anwar Ibrahim Tidak Boleh Jadi Perdana Menteri” (50 Reasons Why Anwar Ibrahim Cannot Become Prime Minister) but dismissed it as a sensationalist attempt to make money.
He said in 1997 Ummi Hafilda Ali, sister of PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, sent him a letter with specific allegations of sodomy against Anwar.
“The police had continued their observations of the deputy prime minister’s activities, as was their usual practice. Even if I had asked them to stop, I doubt they would have. This time they had evidence, including pictures and confessions of people involved,” he wrote in the 809-page tome.
He said that he met witnesses in private, including Azizan Abu Bakar, who was the driver for Anwar’s wife Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
“The police said Anwar had sodomised Azizan many times. Azizan told me in detail where the first incident took place. He said he was afraid as Anwar was a powerful man and could cause him much trouble. He said that was why he had not resisted,” he wrote.
Dr Mahathir said he then called for a meeting of all Umno state chiefs including mentris besar and chief ministers who unanimously endorsed his decision to sack Anwar.
An Umno supreme council meeting was held to allow Anwar to explain himself during which then supreme council member Datuk Ibrahim Ali said he believed Dr Mahathir after reading “50 Dalil” and Ummi’s letter, he wrote.
