KUALA LUMPUR – When Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar met former attorney-general (AG) Tan Sri Tommy Thomas in 2016, she told him that she and her family did not trust former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
In Thomas’ latest book, My Story: Justice in the Wilderness, he said he was asked by long-time Dr Mahathir supporter Matthias Chang to set up a meeting with Nurul Izzah in 2016.
Thomas had met the lawmaker at his office on various occasions before, where he talked about the potential benefits of an alliance with Dr Mahahtir.
“Nurul frankly said that she and her family could never trust Dr Mahathir after what he had done to her father. This was perfectly understandable. A predictable human reaction, considering the history of their relationship and the post-1998 episodes,” Thomas wrote.
Nevertheless, Nurul Izzah did meet Chang at Thomas’ office, where she was left feeling sceptical after the meeting.
“I supported a meeting between the two adversaries. We were aware that many others acted as go-betweens and mediators before the meeting between Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim finally took place,” Thomas added.
He pointed to a surprise visit Dr Mahathir paid to Anwar in court, when the Port Dickson MP was still in jail attending a defamation trial.
“Apparently, the meeting went well.”
He went on to write that an agreement should have been set in stone over Anwar’s role in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.
But then, Thomas went on to slam Anwar for his actions upon release.
He said Anwar’s visits to various state sultans did not make sense, given that these rulers were above party politics.
He contended that such visits could signal that Anwar was building influence among the royal institutions.
“Being kept out of the cabinet only increased Anwar’s insecurity. What compounded his doubt of ever becoming prime minister was the apparent tilt, particularly in the first year of PH’s administration, by the prime minister (Dr Mahathir) toward Anwar’s arch-enemy in PKR, (Datuk Seri Mohamed) Azmin Ali.”
He highlighted countless statements and actions of Dr Mahathir that indicated his refusal to honour the electoral promise on the transfer of power to Anwar.
Thomas served as Malaysia’s AG from 2018 to last year, up until the fall of the PH government after the “Sheraton Move” last February.
Despite the AG’s Chambers being an office independent of politics, Thomas resigned from his position when he realised the fall of PH was inevitable.
He said he could not see himself serving current Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and neither would the Pagoh MP seek Thomas’ services.
My Story: Justice in the Wilderness is available for purchase from Gerakbudaya’s website. – The Vibes, January 31, 2021
