Mahathir: Why complain about my pact with Kit Siang
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad noted in his latest blog posting that many Umno members were not comfortable seeing him and Umno’s “sworn enemy” Lim Kit Siang, the DAP Parliamentary Leader, on the same stage. He reminded them that he would not be with Lim if Umno, the party he once led, was the same as that formed in 1946.
If he’s with the DAP veteran, added Mahathir, it was because they (the Opposition) like him were Malaysian citizens who wanted to send a message to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak through the two by-elections in Selangor and Perak. “The people no longer want Najib as Prime Minister.”
“The people with me are just by coincidence members of political parties and NGOs. We agree that Najib should be removed from power.”
Those who refuse to understand this, lamented Mahathir, will continue to refuse to understand.
The former Prime Minister, in recalling the time when he was opposed by many in Umno including party seniors Musa Hitam and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah to the extent that the Court declared the party unlawful in 1987, stressed that he had always conducted his politics by the rules of democracy. “It seems that today, Najib cannot be challenged and cannot be criticized. Those who criticize him will be stripped of their party membership, if in Umno, and this would be followed by directives forbidding any meeting with party members.”
“There are those who have been suspended. No one is given a chance to defend himself.”
Mahathir, in delving into recent history, reminded that delegates are no longer free to speak up during the annual Umno meets, as they cannot touch on the RM2.6 billion political “donation” controversy and the 1MDB Scandal.
Under such circumstances, wondered the former Prime Minister, was it possible at all for Umno members to openly support him when he criticizes Najib. He referred to the Citizens’ Declaration and raised the question whether Umno members would sign it as part of efforts to get Najib out of Putrajaya. He stressed that many Umno branch chiefs who had criticized Najib openly had been given warnings, their businesses disrupted and affected, scholarships withdrawn and all sorts of pressures brought to bear on them.
What’s clear is that all Ministers, Umno divisional chiefs, and Umno MPs are playing deaf, dumb and blind to Najib’s wrongdoing, said Mahathir. The Umno members continue to support him, he said, despite the nation losing billions, Malaysia being dismissed as being among the ten most corrupt countries in the world, Malaysians being afraid to be outside the country lest they be humiliated, although Najib himself was afraid to meet with the press, especially the foreign news agencies.
The Umno members have no sense of shame, charged Mahathir, and continue to support Najib although the international media has reported in detail on the Prime Minister’s wrongdoing and abuse of power. “Umno members who lodged police reports against Najib were dragged to the court under anti-terrorism laws. Even their lawyers were held by the police.”
Mahathir went on to warn about the passage of the National Security Council (NSC) Act, under which Najib would accumulate even more power, this time at the expense of the Agong who is the only one with the power to declare a state of emergency. The NSC Act, pointed out Mahathir, has been opposed by the Conference of Rulers since it gives the Prime Minister the power to declare a state of emergency. He doubts that Umno members agree with the NSC Act but they continue to remain silent.
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