Last Friday, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor visited Anwar Ibrahim at Hospital Kuala Lumpur, where the former opposition leader, who has blamed the Najib administration for putting him behind bars, is recuperating from an operation.
The prime minister later posted a photograph of the visit on Twitter and wished his political nemesis a speedy recovery.
In May, the prime minister visited PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang at the National Heart Institute (IJN) in Kuala Lumpur, after Hadi underwent heart surgery.
An article published in PAS organ Harakah Daily compared both the visits.
“What is clear is that Najib's visit did not have any political impact on Anwar. That is the greatness of Anwar and the advantage he has over others.
“Nobody would say the two have formed a pact. Nobody would say Anwar would join Umno and return to the government,” said veteran writer Subky Latif.
However, Subky pointed out that Hadi was not as invincible as Anwar and when Najib visited the PAS president, it fuelled speculations and allegations.
“When Najib visited Hadi in the hospital and the late PAS spiritual leader Haron Din when he was in the hospital, there were claims that PAS wanted to join Umno and (DAP leader Lim) Guan Eng was confident PAS has united with Najib.
“Not only (were critics) convinced Hadi and PAS have joined Umno, (they also) believed PAS was given RM90 million (by the prime minister).
“The numerous denials were not believed. They would not even believe if Hadi swore on the Quran. Perhaps they would not believe until their deaths,” Subky said.
He argued that Najib himself does not believe or even considered that PAS and Hadi would join Umno.
He said what the prime minister wanted was for the perception to be created that PAS and Hadi are with Umno.
“This is what Najib likes. No need for PAS to make amend with Umno. It is sufficient (as far as Najib is concerned) for everyone to state that PAS is with Umno,” Subky added in the article.
Hadi has since filed a defamation suit in the UK against Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, who is based in London, over an article which suggested that PAS received RM90 million from Najib.
