KUALA LUMPUR, 30 Mar: Despite being imprisoned for six years and repeatedly criticised by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, PKR De Facto Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that he does not hold a grudge against the former Prime Minister.
In fact, he feels that when Pakatan Rakyat administers Putrajaya, the new government should not take action against its former leaders.
“I want to say, I do not hold a grudge against him. Although I was attacked every day, I do not think that the new government (Pakatan Rakyat) should penalise him.
“I do not want the PR machine to disturb him. Do not disturb him. He is already 87 years old. Let him rest. But remember, I am not (Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak), I have to defend our principles.
“There is no end is we think about revenge,” said Anwar who was the former Deputy Prime Minister under Dr Mahathir at a talk in Sentul yesterday.
Anwar also reiterated his statement that he is not the mastermind behind the Lahad Datu invasion by an armed group from southern Philippines as claimed by Umno-BN.
According to him, he admits to meeting with the former leader of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Nur Misuari when he was the Deputy Prime Minister.
“It was not just meeting with the Mindanao Governor but, Tun Dr Mahathir also invited him to visit Malaysia.
“I took his entourage to visit the Umno office in Sabah.
“But because I sang a song about questioning Najib, they said I am the mastermind,” he said, adding that he sang the song because Umno-BN may lose Sabah, not Malaysia.
Meanwhile, PKR Vice-President, Tian Chua said that he regretted the attitude of pro-Umno newspapers that gave him no room to defend himself and clarify regarding allegations of pro-Umno blogs.
“I did not insult the police, I did not issue the term ‘mati katak’ (dead frog implying that they died in vain) and also the shot was only a farce.
“The statement was only distorted by pro-Umno blogs and the mainstream media,” he said.