After Anwar’s pardon, when will Mahathir let him take power in Malaysia?
Despite rumours the jailed former leader wants to return to power almost immediately upon his release, the current 92-year-old prime minister says he expects to hold the post for a year or two
Ahead of the 70-year-old leader’s release, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has had a topsy-turvy relationship with his protégé-turned-rival-turned-ally, said the development will not bring immediate changes to the power structure of his five-day-old government.
In comments to a business conference on Tuesday, Mahathir confirmed the jailed leader will be released on Wednesday but said: “I don’t know what time”.
Anwar was sentenced to a five-year jail term, his third stint in prison, for charges of sodomy he says were trumped up by the ousted premier Najib Razak.
The country’s constitutional king Muhammad V last week agreed to grant Anwar a full pardon after a request from Pakatan Harapan leaders.
The Prison Pardons Board met on Wednesday and Anwar was released soon after.