Dr M says ‘interested’ in Anwar’s NSC case, coy on renewed ties

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today refused to say whether or not he had mended ties with former nemesis Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, the same man whom the former prime minister had sacked from Cabinet 18 years ago.

Dr Mahathir, who was present at Anwar’s application for an interim injunction on the National Security Council (NSC) Act, said that he was only here to support the latter’s bid to temporarily block the government from implementing the new law.

“I don’t know about friend but I talked to him,” he said when asked if the two were now friends.

“I’m interested in his case. This is about the national security council,” he added.

He added that he spoke to Anwar at length about the NSC Act and was supportive of the latter’s attempt to prevent its enforcement in Malaysia.

“As you know I’ve written in my blog and he’s doing the same thing trying to stop it. So I met him, had a long chat with him about this thing,” he said.

On August 2, Anwar filed an originating summons to declare the NSC Act 2016 unconstitutional as it came into force without royal assent.

In the originating summons, Anwar sought to have Article 66(4) of the Federal Constitution declared unconstitutional, null and void.

Article 66 (4) states that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong must assent to any Bill presented to him within 30 days. Article 66 (4A) goes on to say that should the Agong not assent to a Bill within the stipulated time, “it shall become law at the expiration of the time specified in that Clause in the like manner as if he has assented thereto.”

He also sought to restrain the second defendant, namely the NSC, from “taking or purporting to take any step or from acting or purporting to act pursuant to the National Security Council Act 2016.”

This is the first time Anwar has met with his political nemesis after 18 years. The friction between the duo dates back decades after Anwar was fired as Dr Mahathir’s deputy prime minister in 1998 and later imprisoned and charged with sodomy and corruption all while the latter was prime minister.

On top of that, Anwar in May penned a letter advising PKR leaders to be wary of their alliance with Dr Mahathir as the Save Malaysia movement’s Citizens’ Declaration was “defective and incoherent viewed in the context of reform.”