INTERVIEW | When the 2018 general election results came out, PKR emerged as the largest party in the winning Pakatan Harapan coalition and its jailed president Anwar Ibrahim was the prime minister-designate.

However, it was Dr Mahathir Mohamad who helmed the Harapan government for almost two years. A succession plan which would have seen Anwar replace him was thwarted when Mahathir tried to form a unity government and then unilaterally resigned in 2020.

Defectors from Anwar’s own party also helped plunge Malaysia into further political chaos, an episode now regarded as the Sheraton Move.

Anwar (above), the PKR president, told Malaysiakini in an exclusive interview, he does not want to be trapped in bitter memories of the past. However, his party is also planning to exact some revenge on those whom he termed as “pengkhianat” (traitors).

“We should not be beholden to...