press-malaysia-mahatir
    daily: not too late for mahathir to save himself, his premiership tehran, oct. 18, irna -- 'kayhan international' sunday touched on the services of malaysian prime minister mahathir muhammad and his unwise orders for the arrest of deputy prime minister anwar ibrahim, and said
that it is not too late for mahathir to save himself and his premiership.
    mahathir has done a lot for malaysia, ''but it is a pity that mahathir acted unwisely and hurriedly, demonstrating weakness of character as well, in respect to the fear he felt in the person of his former deputy prime minister and finance minister anwar ibrahim.''
    the paper added that mahathir acted within his rights when he sacked anwar on september 2, 1998 but committed political suicide on september 20 by ordering anwar's arrest.
    ''from conservative muslims' point of view, he committed a great sin by accusing anwar of sodomy. a charge which was not acceptable to even the most credulous persons, because people had known anwar for a long time and his repute as a pious muslim was well-
established,'' it added.
    turning to the continued anti-government protest rallies being held in kuala lumpur, it said, mahathir can save himself and his premiership by openly repenting for his sin against anwar and ordering his immediate release.
    ''mahathir, a learned man, should be knowing better that he still has a chance to undo the biggest error of his political career.  otherwise, sooner or later mahathir will have to tread on the path of oblivion. this is what history tells us,'' concluded the paper.
ys/jh
end
::irna  18/10/98  11:32

 
press-mahathir-anwar
  dismissal of anwar, error judgment in mahathir's brilliant career tehran, oct. 17, irna -- the english-language 'iran daily' saturday criticizing prime minister mahathir mohammad's remarks that anwar's black eye and other visible bruises were self-inflicted, said that
the most damaging self-inflicted wounds are those which mahathir has wrought against himself with his most unethical attempt to end anwar's career.
    although anwar's dismissal was not unexpected, ''rumors were afloat since the summer of 1997 meltdown of the malaysian ringgit and the subsequent halving of that currency's buying power within the span of a week. disaster though it was, no one expected the newest asian
tiger, which had been registering growth rates of 8-10 percent a year for a decade, to be mortally wounded at least economically.''
    the descent in personal relations were so rapid that mahathir had become disoriented, noted the daily adding ''the anti-anwar media campaign that the man in charge had been subtly orchestrating for a year took the most bizarre twist with his protege's dismissal.
    ''in what probably will prove the most grievous error judgment in an otherwise brilliant career, the prime minister embarked on a media campaign to smear anwar as a sexual pervert,'' noted the paper.
    ''given the circumstances surrounding the incarceration of the first victim of the mahathir-ibrahim political duel, if the prime minister is relying on that tact to prove his point, he is dead in the water,'' pointed out the daily in conclusion.
fh/jh
end
::irna  17/10/98  10:28