PETALING JAYA: Prominent banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak posed a tough question to PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar, asking if it was easy to forgive former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Nazir asked the question at the World Economic Forum on Asean 2017 in Phnom Penh, where Nurul Izzah had given a talk on Thursday about her political evolution.
At the conclusion of her talk, Nurul Izzah opened the floor to questions, specifically asking Nazir if he had any.
“Can you share a little bit more about your first meeting with Mahathir Mohamad after everything? Was it so easy to forgive him?” asked Nazir, who is the youngest brother of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
To this, the Lembah Pantai MP responded that it was a very difficult moment when her eyes first met Dr Mahathir’s.
“You’re talking about close to 20 years that have passed by. Years of going to and fro the prison cell to visit my father,” she said.
Nurul Izzah’s father, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, was deputy prime minister when he was sacked by Dr Mahathir in 1998. He was later charged with sodomy and jailed for corruption.
He is currently serving a five-year jail term after being convicted of a second sodomy charge.
Last year, Dr Mahathir left Umno to form a new party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, and has since allied himself with his former rivals in the Opposition.
“I welcome everybody to be part of the reform agenda for as long as they are clear there is no justification for any sort of dictatorship or autocracy,” said Nurul Izzah.
She said that she had been taught to be civil and remained so after meeting Dr Mahathir a number of times.
“Believe it or not, we spent Valentine’s day – not just with him, relax – we had a fundraising dinner on the 14th of February this year.
“I invited him and he came with his wife and other politicians,” she said.
Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/05/11/nazir-razak-nurul-izzah/#GbAxdLsss1X7f9sV.99
