Imran’s idol Mahathir sends his blessings

–Malaysian PM says people of Pakistan supported Imran’s vision

ISLAMABAD: Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Monday congratulated newly-elected Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and expressed confidence that the close and brotherly ties and cooperation enjoyed by Malaysia and Pakistan over the last 61 years would be further strengthened in the years ahead.

In a letter to Imran Khan, Dr Mahathir said he looked forward to working closely with him in the spirit of genuine solidarity and for the unity of the Ummah.

“On behalf of the government and people of Malaysia, I have the honour to extend my warmest congratulations to Your Excellency on your appointment as the Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

“Please accept, Your Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration. I am most heartened by your impressive victory in the general elections held on 25 July 2018,” he said in the letter, a copy of which was made available to the media.

Dr Mahathir said the election victory was a profound indication of support from the people of the country to Imran Khan’s vision for Pakistan.

“May Allah the Almighty bless you with wisdom and foresight to steer Pakistan towards progress, peace and prosperity,” he said.

PM IMRAN’S IDOL:

Often in his pre-election speeches, PM Imran has quoted Kuan Yew of Singapore and Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia as examples of men who advanced their countries because they cleaned them up.

In 2006, before PTI became a leading political party, Mahathir Mohamad visited Pakistan to attend a conference titled, ‘A clash of civilisations or A clash of interests?’ on the invitation of Imran Khan. It was said that this was the first time in the history of Pakistan that a former prime minister of a foreign country arrived in Pakistan on the invitation of a political party. The conference was attended by media persons and the who’s who of the political industry of Pakistan.

Mahathir is one of the few leaders whom PM Imran admires a lot. In 2012, during an interview with The Guardian, he named a few world leaders he admired. Including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Brazilian ex-premier Lula Da Silva and Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohammad along with Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore.

In 2018, when Mahathir bagged a shocking election victory at the age of 92, Khan took to Twitter to congratulated Mahathir. He stated that Najib Razak was the reason that Mahathir came out of a 15-year retirement. He continued that Mahathir had won the elections despite attempts by Razak’s government to manipulate the elections.