ANWAR Ibrahim was open to collaborating with Umno after the 2018 general election, as he was sceptical of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, his one-time mentor turned nemesis, according to a forthcoming book.

Anwar, who never trusted Mahathir did not oppose a plan proposed by Najib Razak, writes journalist Leslie Lopez, author of the book The Siege Within.

Najib, then head of Barisan Nasional and Umno, proposed mutual cooperation with Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan in the event that the 2018 elections resulted in a hung Parliament, Lopez writes.

There had been a growing prospect that Barisan Nasional and Umno could not win enough seats to form the next government, forcing BN and Umno chief Najib Razak to explore options.

Right-wing elements in Umno were pushing Najib to lay the groundwork for declaring a state of emergency in the event BN lost the general election. But Najib was unwilling to take such a drastic approach as he knew that such a move would have devastating implications for Malaysia, Lopez said.

Instead, Najib decided on an alternative approach, to keep the lines open with Anwar.

Najib and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (then Umno deputy president) floated the idea of mutual cooperation with Pakatan Harapan in the event of a hung parliament, Lopez writes.

Anwar’s distrust of Mahathir stemmed from their falling out in 1998, when both were in Umno, which lead to Anwar being sacked as deputy prime minister, expelled from Umno and eventually jailed. Anwar led the opposition through PKR and Pakatan Rakyat, which made spectacular gains at the 2008 general election.

Mahathir, who left Umno and retired as prime minister in 2004, decided on a political comeback, determined to dislodge Najib and Umno, and courted Anwar in the second half of 2016.

Months of closed door talks and several confidence building trips by Mahathir to visit Anwar led to Anwar agreeing to Mahathir leading the opposition coalition, now called Pakatan Harapan. But espite the arrangement, the trust issues with Mahathir remained palpable, Lopez writes.

With Mahathir heading its election campaign, PH won a historic election victory in 2018, ending BN’s six-decade hold on power. The potential Umno-PH collaboration did not materialise but PH would later agree to team up with its former adversary after the 2022 general election produced a hung parliament.

With PH, BN and East Malaysian parties in a grand coalition, Anwar became prime minister, with Zahid as a deputy in the so-called unity government.