Having been a victim of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, his former number two knows him better. So says Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed.

"I think being a victim of Mahathir, Anwar knows what he is doing. He knows Mahathir better," the Umno supreme council member told reporters in the Parliament lobby.

Nur Jazlan was commenting on a letter penned by Anwar from prison, in which he cautions PKR leaders against the dangers of working with the former prime minister on the Citizens' Declaration.

In 1998, Mahathir sacked Anwar as deputy prime minister. Anwar was subsequently imprisoned on charges of sodomy and abuse of power.

Anwar has always maintained that the charge, similar to his second sodomy charge, was fabricated by Mahathir and his cohorts.

The former opposition leader is currently serving a five-year prison term after being convicted of sodomising his former aide, Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

Nur Jazlan also claimed that Mahathir had revealed his true colours when he called for BN to be defeated in the forthcoming by-elections.

"We used to respect him for 22 years as prime minister and as Umno leader.

"And now he's saying he wants BN to lose in the by-elections. This shows his insincerity," he said.

[More to follow]

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