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Malaysia prime minister Anwar Ibrahim has hit back at former PM and mentor Mahathir Mohamad at a student event on Apr. 7.
The current PM said he has no problem providing proof to back up claims he had made about Mahathir allegedly enriching himself and his family when the 97-year-old was leader.
Argument, begin again
Anwar was answering student questions at Universiti Teknologi Mara in Shah Alam during a dialogue session held on Friday Apr. 7.
A student asked Anwar for his response to Mahathir's recent threat of legal action.
The most recent spat emerged after Anwar made a claim during the 2023 Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) special national congress.
During the congress, the 75-year-old did not name Mahathir, but did refer to a "person who was in power for 22 years and 22 months" had "amassed wealth for him, his family and his children".
Mahathir, who was Malaysian PM for 22 years in his first stint and 22 months in his second, has outrightly stated that Anwar was referring to him and called Anwar's remarks "slander".
He has issued a letter of demand to Anwar, demanding that the PM retract "defamatory comments", according to New Straits Times.
The Malay Mail reported that Mahathir gave Anwar until Apr. 17 to prove his claim or face a lawsuit.
Free Malaysia Today reported that Anwar's lawyers said on Apr. 4 that they will respond before the deadline.
"Enough lah"
Anwar chuckled upon hearing the question and responded with:
"Why do you want me to argue with Mahathir again? Enough lah."
This elicited laughter from the audience, and Anwar continued by criticising Mahathir for using a colonial mindset to portray Malays in a negative light.
Anwar conceded that Mahathir's time as PM had "its strengths", but that he had also caused damage, and that Mahathir often portrayed Malay people as lazy, forgetful, and ungrateful.
NST quoted Anwar as saying: "This is not true, as which race has no lazy, forgetful and ungrateful individuals? Every race has them.
Anwar summarised his answer to the student by saying, "I don't want to fight, he (Mahathir) has asked for evidence, so I will give him (evidence). No problem."
Mentor-mentee
Mahathir and Anwar once shared a mentor-mentee relationship during the former's first stint as PM, and when the latter was his deputy.
But Anwar was stripped of his position and sent to prison while Mahathir was PM.
Anwar was accused of corruption and was subsequently pardoned.
They renewed the relationship in 2018 when Mahathir's Bersatu party joined with Anwar's Pakatan Harapan coalition, winning the 2018 general election, allowing Mahathir to become PM again for 22 months.
But once again, relations between the two men broke down, forcing a split between the parties and Mahathir to resign, eventually paving the way for Anwar to come to power in 2023, while Mahathir would lose his seat and his deposit.
This has not tempered the relationship between the two, with Mahathir proving more than willing to criticise his former deputy in the past few months, and Anwar seemingly willing to bite back.
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Top image via Anwar Ibrahim/Facebook & Mahathir Mohamad/Facebook