Dr Mahathir's statement to free Anwar illogical - Hishammuddin

Parti Pribumi Malaysia (PPBM) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's statement that he would apply for a royal pardon to free Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim if Pakatan Harapan won the 14th General Election (GE14) was illogical, said UMNO Vice-President Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

He said on the contrary, the statement by the former prime minister was feared to have its own agenda and confused UMNO members, especially during the current nationwide divisions' conference.

Therefore, he reminded UMNO members not to be influenced by Dr Mahathir's agenda.

"So, there will be his (Dr Mahathir's) illogical statements everyday...the person (Anwar) that he (Dr Mahathir) asked to be arrested before, the person (Anwar) that he (Dr Mahathir) said was immoral, the person (Anwar) who was isolated from the party...at that time, I was the the party's Youth chief and I felt it.

"Now, he has changed his stand, I believe it is part of his strategies to exploit, cause confusion and raise the members' anger during our divisions' conference period. But so far, I see (the tactic) has been unsuccessful," said Hishammuddin after officiating the Kulai UMNO division delegates conference at the Dewan Raya Bandar Putra here today.

He said Dr Mahathir knew how to exploit the situation since he had previously led UMNO (as president).

Meanwhile, Hishammuddin said some information in the election manual had been completed and would be channelled to the election machinery via workshops.

Although the manual so far, was only distributed to the party president, vice-presidents and the wings' chiefs, information on the target groups was among issues shared with the machinery through workshops which started in the Lenggong UMNO division last week, and it will be followed by the Kulai and Gelang Patah divisions today.

"...there was information on our target groups, how to approach them, such as through social media and so on...and how to overcome the propaganda, especially in view of the coming GE14.

"There will be many accusations against us so we must be prepared to answer them," said Hishammuddin, who is also defence minister.

-- BERNAMA