PUTRAJAYA Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad launched an attack full of sexual innuendos against his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim while campaigning for the ruling BN coalition in Putrajaya last night. He again hinted strongly that the prime minister aspirant is not suited for the top job and had been sacked from Umno in 1998 because of his alleged homosexual tendencies. Mahathir recounted how Anwar forced his way to the top echelons Umno's ranks and then instigated his supporters within the party to accuse him of corruption and cronyism in his impatience to become prime minister.

 "But it is okay, if he wants the job so badly, take it. I'm not going to be prime minister forever anyway. But we found that besides aspiring to become the prime minister, he has other intentions that we could not accept. "This ‘dirty' work stinks, how could one do such thing? So people like this cannot be prime minister," he said. He then paused for a moment, as the 1,000-strong enthusiastic audience shouted, "Cannot"! Mahathir continued, "The prime minister's office is huge and there are government officers coming in, and some of them are young," he said, and the crowd cheered.

 "I fear what would happen to the officers if he becomes the prime minister. Even his driver is not safe. So are those in the office, some of them are cute. Not only women who are cute, there are cute men too. "If he becomes the prime minister, I do not know what would happen. All gone. So I asked my friends in Umno what to do with him, and they said, ‘Sack'," he told the audience.

Money politics

 tengku adnan tengku mansor in putrajaya campaign ge13Mahathir was speaking at a ceramah near a civil servant's apartment complex in Precinct 9 to support Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (right), who is defending his Putrajaya parliamentary seat against a strong challenge from PAS vice-president Husam Musa. In his speech, Mahathir also accused Anwar for of engaging in money politics in his 1993 bid to challenge then Umno deputy president Ghafar Baba in a party election - a move that was unprecedented at the time.

 As a result, he said, Anwar had the support of Sabah Umno divisions although Ghafar had almost single-handedly founded them all. Since his sacking in 1998, Anwar was convicted for sodomy and abuse of the power, but was later cleared of the former. He was hit by another sodomy charge in 2008 and was acquitted last year, but the prosecution has filed an appeal that is still pending in court.