Abdul Razak Ismail had been part of the Reformasi movement since its inception in 1998, following the sacking of Anwar as deputy prime minister and Umno deputy president, when Mahathir headed both the party and the government.
He said that he believes that the former prime minister does not have any interest in pushing for the release of jailed opposition leader Anwar.
“I sense that there is some other agenda behind this joint-statement,” he said referring to the statement released by Mahathir and US human rights lawyer Kimberley Motley on Wednesday.
“It doesn’t make sense for Motley to invite Mahathir for a discussion to talk about the release of Anwar when the people who have been fighting for his release all these years were not invited.
“What’s the point of inviting a person who was responsible for putting Anwar in jail? He isn’t interested in Anwar’s release,” Razak said.
Razak, 56, had been a PKR member since the party was established in 1999 but quit in 2015.
He said he has not joined any other political party, but is interested in contesting in the next general election (GE14) under the Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) ticket. PSM has announced it will accept NGO representatives to be its candidate in GE14.
Razak, who was secretary of the Otai Reformasi 1998 NGO before quitting his post to become an ordinary member, lamented how the opposition coalition had welcomed Mahathir into their fold.
“The whole idea of Mahathir’s name being on the statement looked more like PH’s gimmick of wanting to bring Mahathir into the picture.
“If that’s what they’re trying to do, it’s bad ‘advertising’,” Razak said, adding that it seemed a moot point to have Mahathir release the statement when Anwar is set to be free in a matter of months anyway having served most of his jail term.
“Moreover, Mahathir doesn’t have to fight for Anwar’s release because his jail term is anticipated to end next year June.
“In fact, I hear rumours of Prime Minister Najib Razak wanting to release Anwar earlier but keep him under house arrest, just to get back at Mahathir.
“So this statement Mahathir made doesn’t carry any weight and won’t make any difference,” Razak said.
Otai Reformasi members quit due to Mahathir
The enmity that some members of the Reformasi group have for Mahathir did not subside when the former PM came into the opposition fold earlier this year, with PPBM officially becoming the fourth component in PH.
Some Otai Reformasi members had even quit the movement deeming that it would be wiped out by Mahathir if he was made the next prime minister.
Hulu Kelang assemblyman Saari Sungib from PKR, who headed the movement, has since quit his post as president in July, a few months after Mahathir joined the opposition coalition.
Critics have since questioned Mahathir’s sincerity in pushing for the government to look into releasing Anwar since it was he who had been seen to be responsible for Anwar’s first sodomy conviction in 1999.
Anwar was however, jailed a second time after being convicted of sodomising his former aide Saiful Bukhari Azlan.
Saiful had on social media condemned Mahathir for releasing the “free Anwar” statement with Motley, saying it was to serve his desperate political objective.
“As former prime minister, Dr Mahathir should know better. I am the real victim of Anwar’s criminal act.”