PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar was today asked about her relationship with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad by CIMB chairperson Nazir Abdul Razak, the brother of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak whom she is working to unseat.

Nazir was seated at the front row during Nurul Izzah’s speech about her political evolution at the World Economic Forum in Phnom Penh.

At the end of her speech, Nurul began to take questions and had also asked if Nazir had any questions in mind, which prompted him to ask: “Can you share a little bit more about your first meeting with Mahathir Mohamad after everything, was it so easy to forgive him?”

Nurul Izzah responded by saying that the first time her eyes met Mahathir’s was during a very difficult moment.

“You are talking about close to 20 years that have passed by, years of going to and fro to the prison to visit my father.

“But I think we must understand that while you might hate a man for his actions, you must not personalise his being.

“For me, I welcome everybody to be part of the reform agenda for as long as they are clear that there is no justification for any sort of dictatorship or autocracy,” she said.