NO matter what a person has done in the past, no matter how bad it was, what’s more important is what he is doing now.

These are words that Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar lives by these days.

They help her reconcile to the fact that the man who caused her and her family unimaginable grief is now the one helping to realise her dreams.

That man is former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who more than 18 years ago, sacked her father, Anwar Ibrahim, the then deputy prime minister, and put him in jail.

Dr Mahathir, once called a dictator by Anwar, is now a key partner in the Pakatan Harapan coalition that Nurul Izzah and her father helped to build.

The same Dr Mahathir, who imprisoned and vilified her father has committed himself to freeing Anwar from his latest jail term, which occurred under the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Razak.

During his 22-year tenure, Dr Mahathir used every trick in the book to cement Barisan Nasional (BN)’s grip on Malaysia.

Now, Dr Mahathir is helping to convert rural Malays – the key voting bloc in the general election – from BN supporters into PH voters.

The irony is not lost on Nurul Izzah. At the same time, she realises that to succeed in the present, she cannot be shackled to the past.

“When I look back on what Dr Mahathir has done, I cannot reject anyone who wants to be on our reform agenda. We have to have an open heart and open mind,” she told The Malaysian Insight about partnering up with a former nemesis.

“But what we can do is set our terms. So that there is no manipulation. We cannot claim that only we are qualified for this agenda, that this agenda belongs only to us.

“People can repent, they can support and be part of this reform agenda.”

The reconciliation between Dr Mahathir and her family started when the he visited Anwar on the sidelines of one of the de facto opposition leader’s many court appearances in April last year.

At the time, Dr Mahathir had quit Umno and embarked on his “Save Malaysia” campaign to remove Najib.

Since that meeting, Dr Mahathir has taken part in rallies by electoral reform movement Bersih 2.0 and formed Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), which eventually joined PKR, DAP, and Amanah in the PH coalition.

Nurul Izzah has shared the stage with Dr Mahathir and his wife Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali on several programmes in her Lembah Pantai constituency and elsewhere in the country.

Yet rumours persist that she and a faction in PKR are not comfortable with the outsized role that Dr Mahathir is playing in PH.

Dr Mahathir and Nurul Izzah’s mother, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is PKR president, are in the running to become PH chairman.

Nurul Izzah declined to comment on the race, saying that these are internal matters that should be deliberated by PH members behind closed doors.

Although Dr Mahathir is now a partner, it is not easy for Nurul Izzah to move on.

“Subjectively we have to look at what ‘move on’ means. I cannot forget the dangers of letting Malaysia fall into the hands of a dictator. Let Najib be the last dictator of this country.

“There is no point in hating an individual. We may hate the things he did, his past behaviour.

“But our efforts and abilities should be focused on ensuring that there is no more oppression and tyranny, no matter who becomes prime minister.”

The pain that she endured has become a source of strength for her. It is what drives her to fight so that no one else will have to go through what her family did. 

“I don’t know if we can win in the 14th general election. But I know that whatever time I have on earth, I will spend on this.” – June 29, 2017.