‘DR M ORCHESTRATED ANWAR’S DOWNFALL’

He convinced Umno leaders, students of Anwar’s wrongdoings, says deputy minister

IT was former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who convinced Umno and student leaders that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was guilty of corruption and sodomy.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said he was a student leader in 1998 and 1999 when the then prime minister Dr Mahathir personally challenged him to a debate.

“He asked me why I was always criticising the government, so I told him my reasons.

“He admitted to some issues and denied others.

“That was when he tried to convince me that Anwar was guilty, but that is all history now,” he said before answering questions from students during a questionand-answer session at the National Undergraduates Leadership Conference (Pemanas 5.0) yesterday.

Asyraf said Dr Mahathir was the one who convinced Umno leaders and student leaders, including himself, of Anwar’s wrongdoings.

Anwar was Dr Mahathir’s deputy until they had a falling out in 1998, an event which sparked protests by Anwar supporters as they called for political reform in the country.

He was imprisoned on charges of corruption and sodomy shortly after, although Anwar maintained he was innocent and that the charges against him were politically motivated.

The former Umno man was released from prison in 2004 and went on to lead the opposition coalition, but was jailed again in 2015 on separate sodomy charges and is currently behind bars serving a five-year sentence.

During the conference, Asyraf said he had no issue if students chose to be critics. However, criticism should be based on facts.

Asyraf said he and other student leaders used to be very vocal.

“However, we criticised based on facts and we meet leaders personally.

“We never stepped on pictures of leaders.”

The six-day conference, which started on Wednesday, is attended by 350 participants and will feature more than 20 talks by senior ministers on topics such as economy, education, religion and politics.

The aim of the conference is to ensure that graduates understand the government’s position on various issues.

The conference will be closed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at Universiti Teknologi Mara Shah Alam tomorrow.

He asked me why I was always criticising the government, so I told him my reasons. He admitted to some issues and denied others. That was when he tried to convince me that Anwar was guilty... DATUK DR ASYRAF WAJDI DUSUKI Deputy Minister in the PM’s Department