PAKATAN’S candidate for prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad thanked Anwar Ibrahim and his family for accepting and allowing him to lead the pact during the next general election.

The former prime minister said he understood that while it was not easy for those who did not like him to accept him, he was grateful for their willingness to put aside their differences for the future of the country.

“I know how Anwar feels. It was during my administration that he was sent to Sungai Buloh. It is not easy for him to accept me and shake my hand.

“And it’s not just Anwar but his family as well who felt pressure when he was jailed. They suffered for 20 years,” he said during Pakatan’s 2018 Convention at the Ideal Convention Centre in Shah Alam today.

Dr Mahathir said it must not have been easy for Anwar’s family to put the past behind them but they knew they had to in the struggle to free the country from Prime Minister Najib Razak’s grip.

“I owe them and I thank Anwar for this gesture… for being willing to work with me to save this country,” he said. 

Dr Mahathir sacked Anwar on September 2, 1998, as deputy prime minister and finance minister and, subsequently, from his position as Umno deputy president.

On April 14, 1999, Anwar was found guilty of four counts of corruption for interfering in police investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and sentenced to six years’ jail by the High Court.

On September 2, 2004, the PKR de facto leader was freed after almost six years in prison when the Federal Court allowed his appeal against his conviction for sodomy.

Anwar’s daughter, who is Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar, had previously said there was no point in hating Dr Mahathir as “people can repent”.

At the convention today, some delegates were seen tearing up as Dr Mahathir spoke, including his son, Mukhriz.

Dr Mahathir also said Bersatu was set up as a Malay party instead of a multiracial one as a way to gain the support of voters from rural areas as they were less knowledgeable about politics and had difficulty supporting parties other than Umno.

“As such, they (the opposition) came to the realisation that they needed a new party, Bersatu, to help Malays overcome the feeling that they could lose their former protectors (Umno).

“Bersatu was set up as a Malay party and not a multiracial one as we realised that there are those who feel threatened and want to see a government led by their own race.” – January 7, 2018.