WORKING with Anwar Ibrahim was better than choosing to side with Najib Razak who had caused the country severe damage, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said in a television interview today.

He acknowledged the problems he had with Anwar who was his deputy before he was sacked in 1998, but said overthrowing Najib’s government in the 14th general election was a greater priority.

As such, Dr Mahathir chose to back opposition bloc Pakatan Harapan (PH), which meant working with Anwar.

“We need to know our priority – which comes first in our effort to correct the things in our country.

“Najib had done so many bad things and at the same time, I had problems with Anwar who was in jail at that time. But I chose Anwar because Najib was the greater evil.

“To bring him down, I needed to work with Anwar and the opposition and if I didn’t, it would be impossible to fight Najib because he had money and power,” said Dr Mahathir in an interview with Astro Awani this morning.

In the last election, PH overthrew Barisan Nasional who had been in power for more than 60 years.

Dr Mahathir led the coalition to victory and was sworn in as prime minister.

Najib was later arrested and prosecuted for abuse of power and corruption. The court found him guilty last year for one of several cases against him. Trial for the rest are still ongoing.

Dr Mahathir also said a country’s stability and progress is determined by its leader and not the system.

He explained that if the leader fails to steer the country to progress, the country’s political and economic system will also fail.

“It is not the system that fails, it is the leader. If the leader fails, the system will fail. The problem is with the person in charge, not the system,” he said in the interview. – October 29, 2021.