Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today that PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim had also played a key role in Operasi Lalang of 1987.

   

The operation witnessed the Internal Security Act (ISA) being invoked to detain 108 political leaders and activists without trial.    

Anwar had been the deputy prime minister at the time.

   

Denying Anwar's allegation that he was fully responsible for Operasi Lalang, 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.’ But he never said such things. He agreed and supported everything, including the ISA."

   

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

     

The former premier said Anwar had also portrayed himself as a human who could do no wrong or sin in his path towards his personal interests 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 reimagining himself as sinless. If Anwar is right, he would have been prime minister today," he stressed.

     

He added that 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.

   

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

   

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