KUALA LUMPUR: Mala­­­y­sia’s newly-elected Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday that the country’s monarch has indicated he was willing to grant a full pardon to jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim immediately.

The Southeast Asian nation’s political landscape has been shaped for nearly two decades by a bitter feud between Anwar and Maha­thir, whose decision to sack Anwar as his deputy spar­ked an opposition movem­ent, Reformasi, or Reform, in 1998.

But in 2016, Mahathir abandoned the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, and joined Anwar’s opposition alliance to fight against scandal-hit former premier Najib Razak.

“It is going to be a full pardon, which means not only pardoned, but he is released immediately and after that he will be free to participate fully in politics,” Mahathir told reporters a day after he was sworn to office following his alliance’s shock win in Wednesday’s election. At 92, he is the world’s oldest elected leader.

Mahathir said the king indicated he was willing to pardon Anwar immediately. A full pardon by the king would mean Anwar can return to active politics.

Before the election, Mah­a­thir had said he would step down and give the prime minister’s post to Anwar when he is pardoned. He has said Anwar’s wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will be the deputy prime minister in his cabinet.

Reporters and Anwar supporters were gathering outside a hospital in Kuala Lumpur where he is recovering from a shoulder surgery. His wife also arrived at the hospital and an alliance source said Mahathir was due to visit later in the day.

Anwar, 70, was due to be released on June 8 with time taken off his sentence for good behaviour. He began a five-year sentence for sodomy in 2015, a charge he and his supporters say was politically motivated.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2018

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.