PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has taken a swipe at Anwar Ibrahim over the “Dubai Move” allegedly involving talks between opposition leaders and certain government representatives in the United Arab Emirates.
He said Anwar would be the expert in political manoeuvring and forming backdoor governments, citing his attempt on Sept 16, 2008 as well as the Kajang Move.
“There were also strategies that hinged on ‘I have the numbers’ and steps involving a ‘strong, formidable, and convincing majority’.
“All of these were steps to take over the government through the back door,” he said in a posting on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
The Kajang Move refers to PKR’s plan in 2014 to trigger a by-election in the Kajang state seat to install Anwar as the Selangor menteri besar, replacing Abdul Khalid Ibrahim who was seen as going against party policies.
Sept 16, 2008 meanwhile was the day Anwar planned to topple the then Barisan Nasional (BN) government, claiming that there were BN MPs committed to joining forces with the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat.
The plan failed when his proposal to call for a special Dewan Rakyat sitting was rejected by then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
In his X posting, Mahathir said all of Anwar’s actions were aimed at a government takeover, but that they were not deemed treasonous or destabilising to the government, economy, or democratic principles.
“His backdoor government is considered legitimate and pure as long as he gets to become the prime minister,” he said.
He also denied any involvement in the “Dubai Move”, saying he had not visited Dubai for a long time.
