TTF: Dr Mahathir Mohamad was not putting on an act. On the contrary, he genuinely wanted to meet Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the hospital. The reason for the attempt is something I spoke of yesterday (READ HERE) at considerable length.
In a nutshell, Anwar is more or less certain that Pakatan Harapan has a cat in hells chance of winning Putrajaya come the 14th general election (GE14). He somehow got the message out to Dato’ Seri Azmin Ali (though I’m not quite sure how), who then informed Mahathir that the jailed leader planned to accuse him (Mahathir) of colluding with UMNO. Then, when Pakatan Harapan loses the election, Anwar would pin the blame squarely on the former premier.
Realising this, Mahathir undertook to sign a one-page declaration that he would free Anwar should he be appointed Prime Minister. The former premier then handed the letter to Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail before promising her that the Pardons Board under his administration would make every attempt to free her husband. But just to be sure that the jailed leader was aware of the letter, Mahathir wanted to meet him.
That, in a nutshell, is what the visit was all about. All said and done, Salleh made perfect sense when he reminded the former premier of protocols involved:
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KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Harapan’s prime minister-in-waiting Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad should be the first to set a good example and not abuse his power or violate the law, said Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak.
He said Dr Mahathir grumbled that he was not allowed to visit Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in hospital today and that Dr Mahathir of all people should know that one cannot simply drop in to meet a prisoner because there is a procedure involved
“If not, he would be teaching Malaysians that if you are ‘somebody’ then you need not follow the law.
“Had Mahathir followed the proper procedure? Even wives cannot visit husbands in prison if the proper procedure is not followed,” he said in his blog sskeruak.blogspot.my tonight.
“Wives and lawyers need to first be approved before they can visit prisoners and even then, there is an approved time and date that the visit can be made.
“There is no such thing as ad hoc or surprise visits, plus it cannot exceed the number of allowed hours a week,” he said.
The Umno Treasurer said it appeared strange that before this Dr Mahathir had absolutely no interest in visiting Anwar in prison.
He said Anwar was in prison from 1998 to 2004 and then from 2015 till now but Dr Mahathir never wanted to visit him in prison.
“In 1998 Anwar was admitted into a hospital because of his ‘mata lebam’ (black eye incident) and Dr Mahathir did not show any concern in wanting to visit him.
“Now, however, since Dr Mahathir needs Anwar to endorse him as Pakatan’s prime minister-in-waiting, he is suddenly so excited about visiting Anwar in prison,” Salleh added.
Source: The Malay Mail Online
