FORMER prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim should be applauded for attempting to bring Prime Minister Najib Razak and ruling political party, Umno to book for their role in the financial scandals that have made Malaysia look bad to the world, said an Australian broadsheet.

The Australian, in an editorial today, said in the face of 1MDB’s US$4 billion corruption scandal that was linked to the prime minister, there was an “incontrovertible” need for a strong opposition to contest the next general election, which is due by August but which could take place as soon as March.

“That nation’s stability is of immense importance to our region, which is why Australia has close defence and security ties with it,” said The Australian.

Dr Mahathir and Anwar, it said, had formed an unlikely alliance to dislodge Umno from government, where the powerful Malay party had enjoyed a 60-year unbroken run.

“Dr Mahathir will lead the campaign of the fractious Pakatan Harapan, Malaysia’s main opposition coalition. Should he win, he will seek a royal pardon to allow Anwar to take over as prime minister.”

It noted that 93-year-old Dr Mahathir is at the same age Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe was when he was deposed, and that de facto opposition leader Anwar had been the “ruthlessly targeted” and the victim of “dubious allegations that saw him jailed” for “trumped up charges”.

Dr Mahathir became prime minister in in 1981, the start of 22 years of authoritarian rule in Malaysia. He stepped down in 2003, but not before he had fallen out with and accused Anwar, who was then his deputy and the financial minister, of sodomy and corruption.

Anwar was sentenced to nine years in jail for sodomy in April 1999, a conviction that was overturned in 2004. He is currently serving a five-year jail sentence after he was convicted of a second sodomy charge in 2015, and is due to be released early in June on grounds of health.

“An opposition under the leadership of a hard-headed, controversial warhorse such as Dr Mahathir (as recently as May he insisted the US and Israel were responsible for 9/11) faces an uphill battle against Najib’s Umno. Polls show race-based politics still reflect overwhelming support in the Muslim-Malay community for Umno,” said The Australian.

It remains to be seen whether the previously inconceivable alliance of Dr Mahathir and his one-time deputy Anwar will win the battle, it said.

“But Dr Mahathir and Anwar deserve credit for seeking to bring Najib and Umno to book for 1MDB and other scandals that have damaged Malaysia’s standing in the world.

“The corruption surrounding the 1MDB scandal must be front and centre in the election race.” – January 10, 2018.