Mahathir must repent, says Amanah’s Saari
‘He must apologise to the people and to Anwar’s family before collaborating with Pakatan.’
(FMT) – An official of Parti Amanah Negara has urged former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad to publicly apologise for his alleged misdeeds to give credibility to his claim that he is acting in the national interest in seeking collaboration with Pakatan Harapan.
“If he wants to work with us, it is necessary for Mahathir to renounce all the wrongs that he did when he was in power,” said Selangor Amanah Deputy President Saari Sungib in an interview with FMT.
“He must own up to his mistakes and must apologise to the people and to Anwar Ibrahim’s family.”
Quoting from the Quran, Saari said Mahathir’s next course of action must be in line with the principles of “aslahu wa bayyanu” (doing righteous deeds and openly declaring the truth one has concealed).
The Hulu Kelang assemblyman was responding to a news report that quoted Mahathir as saying he had no qualms about working with Anwar.
Saari said his position was that Pakatan should cooperate with Mahathir only if it was for the common cause of ousting Prime Minister Najib Razak and toppling Barisan Nasional from power.
“Cooperation for that specific reason can be considered,” he said. “Although I’m a former ISA (Internal Security Act) detainee, I won’t feel betrayed because bringing down Najib means fighting for the people.”
Saari, along with PKR Vice-President Tian Chua, former PKR Supreme Council member Badrulamin Baharom and political and social activists Hishamuddin Rais and Badaruddin Ismail were detained under the ISA in 2001, when Mahathir was still prime minister.
