In an interview with Berita Harian, Mahathir said he was worried about Anwar’s ability to come up with good strategies to bring the country out of the current economic crisis, adding that Anwar also seemed preoccupied with maintaining support in the Dewan Rakyat.
Mahathir claimed Anwar, who was his deputy from 1993 to 1998, failed to solve the country’s economic problems after becoming acting prime minister for a few months in the late 1990s.
Mahathir further claimed that, at the time, Anwar was more keen to follow the opinions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Mahathir said these could have forced Malaysia into bankruptcy at the time.
“When I was the prime minister, I went on holiday for two months and he (Anwar) assumed responsibility as acting prime minister. But he couldn’t resolve the (then economic) problems.
“(Shortly after that), the economic crisis happened and the ringgit dropped in value. He was the finance minister at that time.
“He attempted to solve the problem of the falling ringgit by following the World Bank and IMF recommendations. I believe that would have caused us to go bankrupt and unable to execute economic policies,” he was reported as saying.
Mahathir added this prompted him to take over the finance ministry “to save the country”.
To a question on whether Mahathir simply did not want Anwar to become prime minister, the former prime minister said that was for the public to decide.
“I’m worried about his ability, whether he can lead the country during these times when we are facing various problems,” he said.
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