Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad denies corruption allegations by PM Anwar Ibrahim

Malay PM Ibrahim's relationship with Mahathir is that of a former protege turned foe, turned ally, turned opponent.

Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s longest-serving elected leader, in a recent interview with Al Jazeera, has denied corruption allegations levelled by incumbent Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The pair have had a tumultuous history spanning more than four decades.

As Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expanded the scope of his government's crackdown on corporate corruption, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) targeted former premier Mahathir Mohamad for the first time in March this year.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim later in May defended the government's intensified actions, saying that the country needed to be saved from “greedy” people after the country lost around US$58.4 billion to graft between 2018 and 2023.

“Every time action is taken (against high-profile individuals), many complain and sigh. Some even defend them and give excuses: ‘Enough already. Don’t take revenge, they are already old,’” he said. “I congratulate and salute those who take action against them.”

“I don’t want to fight. He has asked for proof, I will give (him) proof, no problem,” Anwar Ibrahim said.

Mahathir has said that there was no proof of any corruption against him, and denied Anwar’s claims that he took any money from the government. He said that the only money he made was from his salary, most of which is now gone.

“I am curious as I have not seen this money and don’t know where they are. If I had taken the money, tell the court how you [Anwar] conclude that I had taken the money,” Mahathir reportedly told Al Jazeera.

“During my time, there was corruption. But I myself was not involved in corrupt practices,” he told CNBC.

Mahathir was in office from 1981 to 2003 under the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) platform.

Anwar who joined politics under the banner of an anti-corruption movement allied with Mahathir in the early 1980s. He soon became Mahathir’s deputy and protege.

But things between the two took a turn and Anwar Ibrahim spent years behind bars on sodomy charges towards the latter end of Mahatir’s rule.

By the end of the 2010s Mahathir too had left UMNO and launched his own political platform.

The veteran leader admitted that Ibrahim was wrongly jailed under his watch and blamed the police.

He then formed an alliance with Anwar’s party, the Pakatan Harapan, ahead of the 2018 elections.

The alliance won the elections and managed to unseat the UMNO from power for the first time in the country and party’s history.

Mahathir and Anwar formed a coalition government under an agreement that saw the premiership tenure split between the two. Mahathir was slated to govern for the first half followed by Ibrahim for the second half of the prime ministerial tenure.

Mahatir led the country again from 2018 to 2020.

This reconciliation, however, was short-lived and many of Mahatir’s party members and allies backed out of the arrangement over the transfer of power to Ibrahim in the second half of the government’s tenure.

During his latest premiership tenure, Mahathir claims that the salary he amassed is all he used for himself and his family, and that he took nothing from the state.

This salary was equivalent to $1700 when he first came into power, and $4240 at the end of his time in office. This was, he said, “a very big sum of money.”

He added that he had spent most of his money in political affairs even when out of office, particularly to remove Najib Razak from office as the 1MDB scandal was revealed. He added that the only money he spent was his own, saying that the party itself lacked funds.

He criticised Anwar for not being able to show any proof to back up his accusations and is trying to sue him for $32m for defamation.

Mahatir is also being investigated for corruption involving the businesses of his sons.

He stated that he does not involve himself in the businesses of his sons, and even banned them from doing business while he was in power to ensure there were no allegations of nepotism.

Some analysts have suggested that the Malay premier should take further steps to prevent accusations of political vendetta by implementing institutional reforms aimed at enhancing governance.