THE opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan, is free to seek a royal pardon for Anwar Ibrahim if it succeeds in taking over Putrajaya, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The former prime minister said he would not stand in the way of PH in trying to free his ex-deputy and once arch political foe.

Anwar, the de facto PKR leader, mounted a challenge against the Dr Mahathir-led Umno after his sacking and subsequent jailing in 1998 on a sodomy charge.

Anwar, who served as deputy prime minister from 1993 to 1998 and finance minister from 1991 to 1998, is currently serving a five-year jail sentence on a second sodomy conviction and could only be released in 2020.

Answering a question from talk panellist Wong Chin Huat, a political scientist and a fellow at the Penang Institute, in a forum billed as “Hardtalk” in Shah Alam last night, Dr Mahathir said: “If the people want Anwar, who am I to reject the people’s wishes?

“I don’t bear grudges,” he said.

To back his claim and pointing to his foes’ willingness to bury the past and work together with him to oust the ruling Barisan Nasional led by Najib Razak, Dr Mahathir pointed to the “few people in this room whom I have jailed and freed”.

When pressed by Wong if he would take lead to seek Anwar’s pardon as a show of reconciliation, the 92-year-old quipped, “that should be done by the prime minister. I am not the prime minister”, eliciting laughter from the 300 or so people who packed the hall at the youth complex in Shah Alam.

The “Hardtalk” forum was a replacement for the debate Dr Mahathir was to have with Padang Rengas MP and Tourism Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz at Kompleks Karangkraf on Thursday night.

Police withdrew the permit that they had approved  a day earlier.

Many of those present were wearing the red shirt of Dr Mahathir’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) with a sprinkling of the orange of coalition partner Parti Amanah Negara

Former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib and Shah Alam MP Khalid Abdul Samad were also present.

The forum, themed “Malaysia post-Najib”, covered a range of topics from the trivial, such as PH’s policy on e-hailing services Uber and Grabcar to the more serious matter of clipping the powers of the prime minister, reviving the ailing economy and hypothetical scenarios like if Bersatu would work with Umno if Najib steps down voluntarily.

The two-hour forum, organised by the Selangor Caring Society (Ehsan), was livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube.

On removing a prime minister over abuse of power or other implications of wrongdoing, fellow speaker, Salor assemblyman Husam Musa, said Parliament could consider having the powers of impeachment similar to that in the United States and South Korea.

He said to remove a sitting prime minister, Parliament has to pass a vote of no-confidence, which was ineffective if voting was along partisan lines.

Husam also suggested PH consider limiting the term of the prime minister.

Dr Mahathir, Malaysia’s longest prime minister, serving for 22 years from 1981 to 2003, also rejected any suggestion his party would work with Umno if Najib steps down.

He said the “money culture” of Umno had so tarnished the party’s image it would be difficult for Bersatu to be associated with it.

“Umno is tarnished with money. We don’t want this culture.”

He also labelled the government as “kerajaan rasuah” (corrupt government), a claim which received a loud round of applause. – April 8, 2017.