Najib fell silent when Dr M’s name mentioned during phone conversation

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak fell silent the moment Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s name was mentioned during their conversation on May 9.

In an interview with Thai-PBS that was streamed live yesterday, The PKR president-elect related his phone call with the former prime minister that night.

He said Najib was persistent and repeatedly asked for some kind of “arrangement”, but only until the point Dr Mahathir’s name was mentioned.

“He was going on and on about possibilities of having some sort of arrangement because they were not happy with the results of the election.

Anwar added that he told Najib that any discussions should only come after he conceded defeat, which he did not do until the next morning.

“He refused (to concede) until the next morning at around 11am – and even then he was a bit combative.

“He did indicate that he was prepared to discuss and negotiate, but I didn’t entertain this. Our mandate was very clear, we won a clear majority.

“If you want to, you have to discuss with Mahathir, he kept quiet ... nothing,” said Anwar.

Earlier on Monday, Najib said that only time will tell if Dr Mahathir would hand over the reins of office to Anwar as promised.

“I know these two leaders,” Najib told Utusan Malaysia in a recent interview, adding that after hearing “all sorts of stories” about this, he would simply wait and see what happens.