'They want to see me crawl, humiliate me'

Pakatan Harapan has welcomed Dr Mahathir Mohamad into its fold despite the acrimonious past between its leaders and the former premier, who was accused of ruling with an iron fist, stifling dissent and emasculating key institutions. However, Mahathir has denied the slew of allegations against him, often pinning the blame on others such as the police for the Internal Security Act (ISA) crackdown in 1987 which saw the arrests of scores of opposition leaders and activists, as well as the detention and subsequent imprisonment of ally-turned-rival-turned-ally Anwar Ibrahim. In an interview with Malaysiakini in Putrajaya yesterday, the 92-year-old former premier appeared a little agitated when quizzed on this and as expected, remained unapologetic. He said even Anwar himself had not asked him to apologise, and therefore, civil society leaders should stop harping on the issue.