How Perwaja Steel fiasco caused Anwar-Mahathir blow-up

Free Malaysia Today

A forthcoming book says Anwar Ibrahim’s days as Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s protege were numbered after a newspaper report on Perwaja Steel.   Read More:  https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2024/10/06/how-perwaja-steel-fiasco-caused-anwar-mahathir-blow-up/  Free Malaysia Today is an independent, bi-lingual news portal with a focus on Malaysian current affairs.    Subscribe to our channel - http://bit.ly/2Qo08ry   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Check us out at https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com Follow FMT on Facebook: https://bit.ly/49JJoo5 Follow FMT on Dailymotion: https://bit.ly/2WGITHM Follow FMT on X: https://bit.ly/48zARSW  Follow FMT on Instagram: https://bit.ly/48Cq76h Follow FMT on TikTok : https://bit.ly/3uKuQFp Follow FMT Berita on TikTok: https://bit.ly/48vpnQG  Follow FMT Telegram - https://bit.ly/42VyzMX Follow FMT LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/42YytEb Follow FMT Lifestyle on Instagram: https://bit.ly/42WrsUj Follow FMT on WhatsApp: https://bit.ly/49GMbxW  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Download FMT News App: Google Play – http://bit.ly/2YSuV46 App Store – https://apple.co/2HNH7gZ Huawei AppGallery - https://bit.ly/2D2OpNP  #FMTNews #DrMahathirMohamad #AnwarIbrahim #PerwajaSteel

Transcript

00:00The Prawaja Steel fiasco, which caused billions in losses, led then-Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir

00:07Mohammed to view his deputy Anwar Ibrahim as a clear and present danger, according to

00:12journalist Leslie Lopez in his book, The Siege Within.

00:17Their relationship deteriorated after the Asian Wall Street Journal ran a story in 1996

00:22about Prawaja's massive losses.

00:25Anwar stormed into Mahathir's office with a copy of the report, reminding him that the

00:29government couldn't cover up the Prawaja fiasco, to which Mahathir accused him of leaking

00:34it, a claim Anwar denied two months later.

00:37In the following months, Mahathir's allies convinced him that Anwar was a threat.

00:43Prawaja Steel, a symbol of Mahathir's industrialization policy, incurred $2.5 billion in losses by

00:501995.

00:51In 2002, Mahathir had admitted that Prawaja's downfall was due to mismanagement and fraud.

00:57Lopez writes that Anwar, viewed as a threat to Mahathir's political and economic system,

01:02especially after opposing public bailouts from Mahathir's allies during the 1997 financial

01:07crisis, had to be brought down at all costs to preserve Mahathir's Malaysia-incorporated

01:13model.

01:14Anwar was sacked in 1998, expelled from UMNO, arrested, and later convicted of corruption.

01:21The Siege Within is currently on sale and can be purchased online at Kinokuniya, Litbooks

01:26and Amazon Singapore.

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