Chandra Muzaffar: What Daim said about Anwar is true

Political analyst Dr Chandra Muzaffar said Tun Daim Zainuddin’s remarks about opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in his recent interview with the New Sunday Times contains a great deal of truth in it.

Speaking to Astro Awani, Chandra, who once hold key position in Keadilan (now PKR), said Anwar’s links with western individuals such as International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Paul Wolfowitz is something Malaysians should ‘think about’.

“Having known Anwar I would say what Tun Daim said has a great deal of truth,” said Chandra, adding

In the interview, Daim also said Anwar was tested during the Asian financial crisis but he failed.

Commenting on the matter, Chandra agreed that Anwar had mishandled economic crisis by playing the line with the IMF and imposing high interest rates.

He also did not dismiss the fact that Anwar’s failure was due to his lack of knowledge in the economic field.

Meanwhile, Chandra had also reminded Anwar to not create a situation which is not wanted in Malaysia.

He was referring to Daim’s statement that Anwar would create a situation similar to the Arab uprising should Pakatan Rakyat fail to takeover Putrajaya.

“Malaysia has a very strong military force and functioning democracy... Malaysia is totally different from the Arab world,” said Chandra.

He also questioned on how one would even compare Malaysia with the Arab world considering the stability that Malaysia has.

In an interview with the New Sunday Times recently, Daim, a former finance minister in his interview hit out at Anwar, deeming him as unsuitable to become the Prime Minister as well a finance minister.

He also stated his preference for the current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and urged the people to give him mandate for another term.