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22 years on, old friends pick Mahathir over Anwar again
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Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad (right) and prime minister in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim at a press conference after the Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting in Putrajaya, on Feb 21, 2020.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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KUALA LUMPUR - It was the worst-kept secret in Malaysia. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad never wanted to hand the reins over to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as agreed by Pakatan Harapan (PH) months before Malaysia's first change of government in May 2018.
But it was a necessary deal to muster the broad support needed to oust then premier Najib Razak, who had lost the favour of the widely influential Tun Mahathir after the 1MDB scandal began plaguing the once dominant Umno since 2015.
