KUALA LUMPUR, The fight to drag Anwar Ibrahim into a political mud-fight began yesterday when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad went back to his playbook of 1998 and accused the de facto opposition leader of being a stooge for foreign powers.

Unlike 10 years ago, Anwar is not likely to be perturbed by this attack. He will not take the bait and will dismiss his one-time mentor as someone whose relevance to Malaysia has passed. Anwar knows that he does not need to get into a street fight, as he is viewed by many Malaysians as the man who is ushering in a new dawn for the country while Dr Mahathir is seen as part of the old landscape.

Also, Anwar does not need to score points with Umno or convince them of his fitness to lead. If anything, it is Dr Mahathir who has to audition for their support as he sets about to force a change of leadership in Umno. It was vintage Mahathir yesterday. He described Anwar as “a man of many parts”, someone with a forked tongue. “When he talks about Islam, Muslims will think he’s a champion of Islam. When he is with the Jews, the Jews love him. When he is with the Muslims, the Muslims love him.When he is with the temple groups, they love him too.

“Everybody loves him. He is a convincing orator