Will Anwar actually succeed Mahathir as Malaysia’s next prime minister?
- The opposition’s Khairy Jamaluddin says he has had to deal with the question even though he is now far from the corridors of power
- But he still feels Anwar is the best bet to take over after Mahathir because of his ability to lead Malaysians across the spectrum
It has huge implications on succession planning and on stability for Malaysia
The speculation has risen amid whispers from within the government that Anwar, prime minister-in-waiting according to an agreement within the coalition that won last year’s election, fears 93-year-old Mahathir has no plans to hand power to him.
Speaking at a conference in Singapore, Khairy, who was a key member of the defeated Najib Razak government, said the issue was top of the minds of many politics-savvy Malaysians.
“That seems the only thing that the political chattering class seems to ask me about,” Khairy quipped when asked the question at the Regional Outlook Forum, which was organised by the Lion City’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
“It has huge implications on succession planning and on stability for Malaysia simply because Dr Mahathir is the age at which he is at,” the 42-year-old former youth and sports minister said.
While Anwar and Mahathir have stressed their pre-election pact is intact, commentators have been unable to resist comparing the current scenario to 1998.
At the time Mahathir, then in his first stint in power, abruptly sacked his deputy prime minister, Anwar, from government.