Why didn’t you report to MACC Dr M enrichment claim, activist asks Anwar

Kua Kia Soong says this is a ‘glaring omission’ if the prime minister has evidence to back his claim against Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

(FMT) – An activist has taken Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to task for a claim he made against Dr Mahathir Mohamad during PKR’s congress last month.

Kua Kia Soong said if Anwar had evidence to back his claim that Mahathir had enriched his family during his time in power, the prime minister should have lodged a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) by now.

“For a prime minister who has committed himself to a zero-tolerance approach towards misconduct and corruption, it is a glaring omission that he has not reported this claim about Mahathir’s self-enrichment to the MACC all this time.

“Instead, Anwar has made what looks like a huge and serious claim into a tit-for-tat tiff between the two rivals,” he said in a statement today.

On Friday, Anwar said he would show Mahathir the evidence to back his statement, which had led Mahathir to send a letter of demand to the prime minister.

On March 28, Mahathir, who served as prime minister for 22 years under Barisan Nasional and another 22 months when Pakatan Harapan came to power in 2018, revealed that his lawyers had demanded that Anwar retract his statement within seven days.

However, Anwar said on Friday that he would furnish proof of his claim against Mahathir.

On Tuesday, Anwar’s lawyers said they will respond to Mahathir’s letter of demand by April 17. DAP’s Damansara MP Gobind Singh Deo will act as Anwar’s lead counsel.

Kua asked if Anwar’s hesitancy to lodge an MACC report against Mahathir stemmed from his “own skeletons in Mahathir’s closet”.

“Only time will tell if Anwar takes the offensive and reports his claim about Mahathir’s self-enrichment to the MACC. If he truly believes in zero-tolerance against corruption, he should,” the former Petaling Jaya MP said.