PETALING JAYA: Umno rebel Khairuddin Abu Hassan has called for acceptance of the handshake between former premier Mahathir Mohamad and jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, urging an end to interpretations of the encounter last week.
“I want to remind all of our comrades to stop making assumptions and accept the historical moment with an open heart,” he said in response to former ISA detainee and Selangor Amanah deputy chief Saari Sungib.
Saari had urged Mahathir to own up to his past mistakes if he wanted cooperation from opposition politicians. Saari was among more than 100 dissidents, acivists and opposition politicians detained under the Internal Security Act in a crackdown by Mahathir’s government in 1987.
Khairuddin, who was expelled from Umno last year, said in a press statement today: “Don’t need to lay down any terms since Mahathir and Anwar had already met and shook hands. All speculation must stop here and, God willing, a new political landscape will start here.”
The people should keep their focus on the main agenda of toppling Umno and Barisan Nasional and taking power in the federal government. The agenda to fight corruption and the abuse of power must be our main struggle,” he said and called for opposition politicians to be “closer among ourselves”.
Yesterday, Mahathir told reporters that he had no qualms about working together with Anwar, as they both shared the common aim of bringing down Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Last week, Mahathir made a surprise appearance at a High Court hearing of an application by Anwar to review the constitutionality of the controversial National Security Council Act.