Anwar's mistakes led to Ops Lalang

Anwar's mistakes led to Ops Lalang

Anwar Ibrahim yesterday denied his involvement in Operasi Lalang 1987 by blaming his boss at that time Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the person responsible for issuing directive to the police to haul up the protesters.

However, the former prime minister today took a jibe at his former deputy by saying Anwar also played a key role in the operation.

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic) said today that Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also played a key role in Operasi Lalang of 1987.

The operation witnessed the Internal Security Act being invoked to detain 108 political leaders and activists without trial.  Anwar was the deputy prime minister then.

Denying Anwar's allegation that he (Dr Mahathir) was fully responsible for Operasi Lalang, Dr Mahathir said: "As a member of the cabinet, he (Anwar) should also take responsibility.

Unless he had said, 'I’m resigning from the cabinet because I don’t agree.'

"He never said such things. He agreed, supported everything including the ISA."

Dr Mahathir also described the opposition leader as a master of deception and not a ideal thinker and that his party (PKR) was a party on “Anwarism”, set up solely to fulfill his (Anwar's) ambitions.

The former prime minister said Anwar had also portrayed himself as a human who could not do wrong or sin in his path towards his personal interest and political career.

"His party is not Party Keadilan (party for justice) but a party for himself, his family and not for the race, religion and others. It is not even about ideology. 

"He is a master of deception, an expert in denying what he had said before and reimaging himself as sinless. If Anwar is right, he would have been Prime Minister today," he said.

He said Anwar had the skills to manipulate people with his scholarly approach when in fact he was neither a thinker nor a leader capable of leading the country.

"But he is no thinker but a glib talker, good at convincing people for himself. This is Anwar."

Dr Mahathir was speaking to reporters after opening a seminar titled "Kassim Ahmad: An Evaluation" organised by Friends of Pena Pak Kassim at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya. – Bernama

Yesterday, MCA president Liow Tiong Lai told the people of Kajang that Anwar played an important role in the notorious Ops Lalang 1987.

Reminding them to 'teach Anwar a lesson' by not voting him in Kajang by-election on March 23, Liow also said part of the factors that led to the demonstration was Anwar's (the education minister then) move to deploy teachers who did not comprehendMandarin in Chinese schools.

MCA president Liow Tiong Lai has reminded Kajang's Chinese community that it was PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim who caused the notorious Operasi Lalang in 1987. 

This, he argued, was because Anwar had deployed teachers who did not comprehend Mandarin in Chinese schools.

Liow blamed Anwar for suppressing Chinese education in the 1980s when the latter was education minister, stirring dissatisfaction in the community and following that, Operasi Lalang in which 108 politicians and activists were arrested was unleashed. 

“It is clear in the Chinese educationists’ minds till now. (From) that kind of action, we can see that he (Anwar) is a man with many promises, but can’t deliver them.

“He is good at manipulating situations,” Liow said. 

He claimed that based on historical facts, Anwar is an unreliable man who is utilising the Kajang by-election for his own interests and agenda.

“I believe the voters will teach him a lesson this time. We must remember that Anwar is a leader who can’t be trusted... he can promise anything to win the votes,” said Liow.