Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says he is not to blame for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's (pic) first imprisonment. — Picture by Razak Ghazali

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 ― Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad insisted he is not to blame for his former protege Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's first imprisonment as it was the courts that made the decision.

In a Wall Street Journal interview, Dr Mahathir was asked if he regretted the legal action that resulted in Anwar's imprisonment.

“Well, I don't know about regretting, but at that time, it was done by a court of law. The trial lasted nine months.

“All kinds of evidence was produced, and the court decided. It's not me! So people will blame me for that, but I don't interfere with the courts,” he said in an interview with Stanford University’s Hoover Institution executive editor Tunku Varadarajan.

Dr Mahathir pointed out that he could have used the Internal Security Act ― which was not abolished then ― against Anwar back then, noting that the law allowed the government to put a person in detention without a trial.

“I didn't do that. He went to the courts,” he said.

During Dr Mahathir's first stint as prime minister from 1981 to 2003, his then deputy Anwar was sacked in 1998. The latter then faced corruption and sodomy charges in 1998, which resulted in jail time until the convictions were eventually overturned.

“I was not the best-liked leader in the Western world, because I’m critical about other wrongdoings elsewhere, so the moment they find reason to blame me, they will,” he was quoted saying in the same interview.

Now after almost 20 years since Anwar was imprisoned, he is working together with Dr Mahathir through their ruling coalition Pakatan Harapan which unexpectedly defeated Barisan Nasional (BN) in the 14th general elections.

On the relationship between the two now, Dr Mahathir described Anwar as appearing to be “quite nice” and spoke of how they had decided to leave their past behind.

“He sees me; we talk to each other. We didn’t discuss about old things, because we decided that those things are the past, and we can’t look at the past. We have to look ahead,” he said.

Anwar currently is the only president-elect of key PH component party PKR and does not hold any government positions, but will be contesting in the upcoming Port Dickson by-election after the parliamentary seat was vacated to pave the way for his return to Parliament.

How long before Anwar takes over

As for how long Dr Mahathir would stay on in his second stint as prime minister before handing it over to Anwar as promised, he said he does not know the exact period.

“Well, there have been a lot of people who mention two years, but I am supposed to be the interim prime minister. It may be two years, it may be one year It may be three years. I wouldn’t know,” he was quoted saying.

“I didn’t know what to say, but I believe that after two years he will take over,” he added when asked to elaborate.

As for whether he felt that Anwar becoming prime minister would be good for the country, Dr Mahathir reportedly said that it was not a question of his preference but of what the public desires.

“Well, that is what the people want. It’s not a question of what I like. If the people want that, they will have it,” he said.