Tag: Mukhriz Mahathir

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Sinking the Mamak’s Tongkang

mamaktongkang
Indian seamen being rescued from a sinking vessel. This has nothing to do with this article but it shows the desperation

Every time I read Mahathir’s postings on his blog, I would imagine him writing it himself and then pass it to probably his trusted aide, Sufi, to do some research and fill in the blanks before passing it back to him for the final touch before the article is posted at chedet.cc.  The URL used to be chedet.com if I am not mistaken but due to some dispute with the previous administrators the URL is now the current one. The administrators, while working for him, displayed their support for another contender for the Ketua Pemuda UMNO post instead of for Mahathir’s son, Mukhriz.  Anyhow, the contender they supported lost the race, and so did Mukhriz.  Mahathir was furious when he found out that they did not support his son and as the story goes, the two quit without ever disclosing the password for chedet.com.

I have never worked for Mahathir or for any other politician for that matter. I just write whatever I feel like writing. But I don’t have the same privilege that is someone to do the research for me. So when I read his latest post The 2017 Budget I felt disappointed that the research done was just as good as mine if not worse.

Mahathir wrote:

5. Why will the Government not have the money? It is because Government money is not used for good governance, for the development of the country and the well-being of the people.

This is like shooting blanks. The East Coast Highway began construction in 2001.  The project was first announced in 1994 for a new highway that would stretch from Karak to Kuala Terengganu but construction was delayed due to the Asian Financial Crisis. When construction commenced, the highway was shortened to only Kuantan as a lesson by Mahathir to the people of Terengganu whom had voted PAS instead in 1999.  You should remember what I wrote in a previous article on how vindictive Mahathir was towards the people of Kelantan and Terengganu for their support for PAS then.  So, Mahathir too never spent money for the well-being of the people.  Only his cronies prospered whenever projects are implemented.

The 11th Malaysia Plan has lined up many projects that would benefit the youth, the handicapped, the minorities and those who live in traditional villages.  Three pilot projects will be implemented for the youths under the 1Malaysia Youth City program in the Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak.  For children between the age of 13 and 18 residing in welfare institutions they would be given the opportunity to undergo the Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) to provide them with skill sets for them to face the world when they become independent.  A micro-credit scheme would be introduced to the Chinese community under the Chinese New Villages Special Loan Scheme program while a blueprint for the betterment of the Indian community will be prepared.

Six new hospitals will be built while three hospitals namely the Tawau, Kota Marudu and Miri Hospitals would be upgraded.  As it is, the Sri Aman Hospital would be completed as soon as possible. On top of that, 165 new Klinik 1Malaysia will be built nationwide to provide basic medical care for those in the rural areas.

Unlike under Mahathir, the Pan-Borneo highway that has begun construction will be toll free. Mahathir had had to make the people pay for the construction of highways despite claiming that the government had much more money under his administration and we in KL especially are still paying for the sins of Mahathir in the form of extended toll concessions to his cronies.  And for 22 years the people of Sabah and Sarawak had to endure endless ferry rides to get from one place to another while bridges have been and are being built under Najib’s administration despite not having any money as claimed by Mahathir. AND NO TOLL EITHER!

More Mass Rail Transit and proper extension of the Light Rail Transit to benefit the people in the Klang Valley have and are being constructed as compared to the time under Mahathir’s 22 years when the government seemingly had more money.  Double-tracking rail project, High-Speed Rail project and most recent was the announcement on the new East Coast Rail Link that would benefit the people of the very region Mahathir hated very much.

So where was your good governance or your concern for the well-being of the people back then?

Mahathir Wrote:

7. For this the Prime Minister has created sinecure jobs for a lot of loyalists. There are now nine Ministers, three Deputy Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department.

8. There are now 51 divisions in the Prime Minister’s Department. The budget allocation for the Prime Minister’s Department has risen from RM5.2 billion in 2000 to RM20 billion in 2016, a four folds rise. It is 13 per cent of the 2016 budget of RM267 billion. It was less than four per cent between 2000 and 2008.

The Prime Minister’s Department is being run by the Chief Secretary to the Government. It now includes agencies that were not there during Mahathir’s time such as the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA/APMM) whose jurisdiction goes beyond the 12-nautical mile statutory limit of most of our Acts, enforces the EEZ but is not under the Ministry of Defence as it is not a military force. So who is to look after the development and the legislative requirements of the agency if not a Minister? The same goes for the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) which looks after the security of Sabah’s east coast from intrusion by foreign paramilitary units.  The Malaysian Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) also falls under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department and that has to be headed by a Minister as given by the Act.  The Istana Negara, the Parliament, the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission, the Elections Commission, the Economic Planing Unit, they all come under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department.  Not forgetting Mahathir’s own Secretariat Office for the Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad which did not exist prior to his resignation as the Prime Minister.  So is he complaining about the budget that the Prime Minister’s Department is giving his people so they can write lies and bite the hand that feeds them?  Maybe Mahathir’s cook needs to be pulled out. I don’t know what has the cook been feeding the old man that his mind has gone from that of a statesman to that of an estate’s man.

Mahathir Wrote:

10. Under BR1M, 7 million people got initially RM500 each. Now they are promised RM1,000. There will be more increases next year. 

11. At RM500 it will cost the Government RM3.5 billion. At RM1,000 it will cost RM7 billion.

12. Perhaps the very poor would benefit but for most of the recipients RM500 for a year is meaningless. The better thing to do is to give the really needy, the hard core poor sufficient monthly allowances to support their lives. For the rest create jobs and train them. But the Government is not encouraging job creation. Local industries are not supported. But imports are encouraged.

RM7 billion it would cost the government to give out BR1M.

BR1M would be chicken-feed for Mahathir. His cronies spend RM1,000 at Chawan in front of Bangsar Village or at the Bangsar Shopping Centre to feed his bloggers.

It may be a one-off thing but that means a staggering amount of RM7 billion gets circulated in the economy.  Being a layman my understanding of that would be that when there is more money in circulation, jobs are being created as people have more spending power. At RM500 or RM1,000 per person it may not seem much, but by having that extra money to spend encourages spending. Purchases will be made, demand is created, production needs to be increased, more business opportunities for new industrial players, and therefore more jobs are created.

It may not matter to Mahathir that it increases the disposable income of the lower income groups; it boosts consumer sentiments as it increases domestic consumption – the higher the amount of BR1M, the higher the domestic spending.  With subsidy cuts and spending more on BR1M Malaysia’s deficit has been reduced with a much larger chunk of the economic wealth going to those who need it the most.

And under the 11th Malaysia Plan the government is committed towards having 11,000 physically-challenged individuals to work for the government while in the five economic corridors in the Peninsular, Sabah and Sarawak alone 470,000 jobs will be created.

Mahathir Wrote:

19. The level of borrowings by the Government has reached record levels. Future generations will have to pay these loans.

20. All these will not show up in the budget. But the people will know as they struggle to make ends meet.

Singapore has a US$1.76 Trillion external debt with a Debt to GDP ratio of 106%.  Our debt stands at RM630.5 billion (US$150.6 billion) while our GDP is at RM1.157 Trillion (US$276 billion) making our Debt to GDP ration 54.5%.  If Singapore is not panicking then why should we?

In fact, if we compare the first seven years of Mahathir’s administration against Najib’s we can see that we should have gone bankrupt (in the words of Mahathir’s lackey Kadir Jasin) when our Debt to GDP ratio was well over 100% for two years in a row!

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Mahathir’s First Seven Years (1981-1987) with Hussein Onn’s Debt to GDP ratio in 1980 at 44% only

We could see that not only debt had increased during Mahathir’s first seven years, GDP also fluctuated and was at its highest point in 1987 yet debt was much higher!

Compare that to Najib’s first seven years and we can see

Screen Shot 2016-10-19 at 17.05.42.png
Najib’s First Seven Years despite the slump in oil prices in 2014 has seen an increase in GDP

As a matter of fact, the bad performance of Debt to GDP ratio during the 1986-1987 period under Mahathir was not the only time when the economy was in a critical situation going by Kadir Jasin’s definition, the country’s GDP was at negative 7% when Mahathir carried the country through the Asian Financial Crisis in 1998 – which was worse than when Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ran the country during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 which was at negative 1.5%!

So is Malaysia on the verge of bankruptcy?  “Although we were faced with the drastic fall in global crude oil prices in 2015/2016, which caused the government to lose more than RM30 billion in revenue, the country still recorded a positive economic growth which was 6% in 2014, 5% in 2015 and 4.1% in 2016 (6 months),” said Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.

And despite losing that much revenue, the government could still finance its projects – thank you in large to the implementation of the GST which has allowed the government to have an alternative source of income and reduce the dependency on the the price of oil. To add the strawberry on top of that cake is that the inflation rate of 3.43% upon the implementation of the GST program has been reduced to less than 2% this year.

Perhaps Mahathir ought to fire whoever it was who helped research for that article of his.  Such a waste of allocation from the Prime Minister’s Department.  Seriously!

Oh! Why such a title for this posting?  Let me quote this rather amusing blog post:

Melayu Celup

Small in numbers, about 5% of the total Mamak population but rather loud and “glaring”. Though mostly from the 3rd Graded colony, they have graduated well and have an ability of a Chameleon (or think they can) with the Malays. Some examples of these low dignity Melayu Celups are Ahmad Rizal Naina Merican, Sheik Hussein Mydin and Zambry Kadir carrying the Mamak trade mark glaringly. But if they are lucky they will look like the controversial Sharifah Zobra or Mahathir Mohamed. Let me give you a secret, any names that ends with Naina, Kadir, Mydin, Merican, Pakir, Jabeen, Shaik, Mubarakh, Mohammad (no reference to the Prophet Mohamed S.A.W.) are downright, flat out, no doubt, true blue Mamak Tongkang or the immediate descendant’s.

I think the Mamak’s tongkang has just been sunk.

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The Johor Conundrum

Has Khaled Nordin lost control over Johor?
Has Khaled Nordin lost control over Johor?

Blogger Life of Annie wrote on the 24th May 2013:

Five years from now, Johor will not even be an Umno stronghold if those in control of the party are “beraja di mata, bersultan dihati” even among their fellow Umno people.

Do mark my word on this.

It took merely almost three and a half years before that actually happened following the departure of Jorak assemblyman Datuk Dr Shahruddin Md Salleh from UMNO to join Mahathir’s Pribumi.  For the first time in 61 years, the Barisan Nasional/Alliance holds its two-thirds majority in its Peninsular safe deposit, Johor, by a single thread.

Losing two-thirds majority in UMNO’s bastion used to be unthinkable right until the 13th General Elections when the Chinese Tsunami swept many state and parliamentary seats.  It lost 12 seats in the last general elections compared to GE12 in 1998, and this time around the biggest gainer was the DAP with nine extra seats.  Barisan Nasional ended up initially with 38 out of the 56 seats. With the departure of Jorak, it now holds the two-third majority with the bare minimum number of seats.

Despite the progress and development that are taking place in Johor, Ghani was trounced not because he did not do his job, but because of blatant racial sentiment. As with the previous three general elections, Ghani would not be seen sitting comfortably in his office at least two years prior to the elections. He would be on the ground making sure that the machinery is ready to face the next battle, and there would be elections simulations held at various levels of the state’s BN. Ghani would also make sure that his relationship with the Johor Civil Service (JCS) remain at the highest level.

Life of Annie also pointed out that when Ghani pointed out to Khaled that his Pasir Gudang division was in danger of falling into the Opposition’s hands, Khaled did not take that rather well and rubbished the findings.  The simulation was almost correct – Barisan Nasional held on to Pasir Gudang with less than 1,000 votes ahead.

With Ghani ousted, Khaled wanted to make his own mark as the Menteri Besar.  The job as the Menteri Besar of Johor is not exactly an easy one.  With a Sultan who can be somewhat overbearing and often puts his hands into the affairs of the state administration, the Menteri Besar would have to know how to manage both the Sultan and the state administration without upsetting either one. Ghani was an old hand at this and knew exactly how to handle the Sultan, having had to also manage the unconventional behaviour of the Almarhum Sultan Iskandar previously.  He had a good relationship with both Sultans, knowing when exactly to pull the strings and when to let it slack.  Khaled is said to let the Sultan have things his way so much so that even the promotion of JCS officers is left for the Sultan to decide.  While Ghani was often seen patting the back of JCS officers for the good job that they do, Khaled lets the Sultan do the Menteri Besar’s job for him.  While the Sultan might like it, this doesn’t augur well for the state Barisan Nasional.  Any administration would want to have some form of control over its civil service and a good rapport to go with.

The number of gatekeepers one needs to go through to get to Khaled is another common complaint by the common people. Journalists covering Khaled also complain that at almost every event, Khaled is being surrounded by his posse of young lieutenants, even to the extent of having the nearest table to the VIP table occupied solely by this group of people.  This makes Khaled look like the overgrown hipster. It only makes the Menteri Besar less approachable even to the Ketua Bahagians. It is said that he was advised by UMNO veterans to go down and meet the grassroot leaders. His response was, “Aku tak kenal orang Johor (I don’t know the Johor leaders).”

It is already less than two years to the next general elections.  Unlike Ghani before him, Khaled is still mostly seen in Johor Bahru.  Ghani and his executive councillors would have been scouring the state to see what else that have been missed.  Speaking to a Puteri UMNO division head recently she expressed her worry that none of the division heads have actually begun to activate their election machineries in a concerted manner.  This particular Puteri UMNO head has had to conduct her own voters and membership registration drive; an effort which is puny compared to the ones that have and are being done by the DAP in Johor alone. If you were to ask the UMNO division chiefs in Johor, they would tell you that all is rosy, and that is until you speak to them on a one-on-one basis. However,  Khaled has told reporters that the Johor Barisan Nasional still holds a comfortable majority despite it being razor thin after the departure of Jorak.  To the UMNO grassroots, Khaled’s confidence is extremely worrying.

It is no secret that the DAP will be working with Pribumi to wrestle control of Johor from the Barisan Nasional come GE14.  It is hardly an impossible task too!  Muhyiddin might be a figure to be reckoned with both in Pagoh and Muar, but outside those two areas, he is still remembered as the person who sold Johor Malays’ rights to the Chinese.  Mahathir knows this very well as he was the one who rescued Muhyiddin when the latter became a persona non grata in Johor in the early 1990s.  Mahathir knows that Muhyiddin carries a lot of baggage with him and would not be the correct person to lead the country if the Opposition wins. There is already an attempt to kill Muhyiddin politically.  You hardly hear of any statement being made by Muhyiddin while Mukhriz is seen going around in Johor conducting membership registration drives.  No clues needed for the question on who is Mahathir’s choice for PM.

DAP on the other hand, wants to conquer the western Johor belt, where there is a significant number of Chinese population as compared to the eastern belt. During a dinner at the Landmark Hotel with Batu Pahat DAP members, DAP’s MP for Kluang Liew Chin Tong and ADUN for Senai Wong Shu Qi related the plan to wrestle Parit Sulong, Pulai and Pasir Gudang. With Batu Pahat already in PKR’s hands, all that is needed is for Muar to fall, and it is most likely that Muhyiddin would contest there, if not the often-clueless Syed Saddiq, a Muarian himself.

Even Azmin Ali does not want to be left out by the Mahathir and Pribumi bandwagon.  He was seen recently in Muar together with Mahathir at a Pribumi event. It is no secret that he is heading the drive for PKR to work together with Mahathir – a sentiment not shared by the pro-Wan Azizah camp that includes Wan Azizah loyalists Rafizi Ramli and Wong Chen.  There is even talk that Azmin might work towards dissolving PKR and jump en masse into Pribumi. While that is not totally impossible, the departure of Ezam from UMNO to Pribumi has certainly strengthen that theory.

The Johor conundrum is something that the Barisan Nasional (read UMNO) cannot take lightly if it were to gain more seats in the next general elections.  If Khaled is not moving, then someone should take the lead and face the Opposition head on.  There are two FELDA regions that need to be handled with care.  Khaled should realise that there is more to Johor than just Johor Bahru.  He has to go down on the ground and get the feel himself instead of relying on reports from the UMNO divisions and the various sugar-coated reports from agencies.  If you do not know the terrain and its people, you will lose the war. Don’t be like Hamid Karzai who was dubbed the ‘Mayor of Kabul‘ despite being the President of Afghanistan!

And in the words of Life of Annie opus citatum:

If this is how Khaled’s people want to behave, then I dare say that he will be just a one term MB and Johor will fall five years from now.

 

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Constitutionally Speaking

parlimen

The Opposition (DAP, BERSIH, Pribumi) is just recycling old issues.  No matter if the issue raised had been clarified or debunked countless times before.  I did not include PAN in the parentheses because it would be ridiculous in my opinion to even consider it a political party given the cartoon characters that fills its ranks.  Not even BERSIH’s convoy in Penang could garner more than 50 supporters to join its convoy in that staunch Opposition state!  A sign of times, perhaps?  Issues like 1MDB is being played over and over again, especially by Mahathir’s Das Schwarze Korps but hardly gained any traction as people are bored of the same story being played repeatedly with goalposts changed to suit the message they try to send.

So, what should they do next?

Enter His Majesty Yang DiPertuan Agong.

Mahathir's Das Schwarze Korps creating a perception that the YDP Agong has the power to dismiss the Prime Minister
Mahathir’s Das Schwarze Korps creating a perception that the YDP Agong has the power to dismiss the Prime Minister

Before the independence of Malaya in August 1957, there were three parties to the discussion on the subject of the independence.  They were the Malay Rulers of the Federated and Unfederated Malay States; the British who, by virtue of treaties signed with the Malay Rulers, helped administer their respective state; and the Alliance party (UMNO, MCA and MIC) who, by virtue of winning all but one seat in the 1955 General Elections was the de facto voice of the people of Malaya.  Save for Pulau Pinang and Melaka, the rest of the states in Malaya were NOT colonies of Great Britain.  Therefore, the discussion was about the transfer of administrative powers from the representatives of the Malay Rulers (the British) to a government formed through the elections by the people of Malaya.  31st August 1957 was an independence from feudalism, not colonialism. (Read SeaDemon: The Road to Merdeka – Whom Did the British Prefer?, 17 September 2011)

You must understand that while the Rulers retain some of their functions, the government is run by those elected by the rakyat. This was done to ensure that democracy in then-Malaya was not to do away with the Malay Rulers.  Therefore, Mahathir’s attempt to get the Rulers Institution to dismiss Najib Razak for someone else as the Prime Minister, there is nothing that any of the Rulers could democratically do.  The Rulers, although above the law, are not above the Federal Constitution.  Like with the British advisors, there is virtually nothing that the Rulers could do without the advise of the Prime Minister or the Menteris Besar to affect the state or Federal administration except in a few circumstances.

Article 43(2) of the Federal Constitution states that:

2) The Cabinet shall be appointed as follows, that is to say:

(a) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall first appoint as Perdana Menteri (Prime Minister) to preside over the Cabinet a member of the House of Representatives who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House; and

(b) He shall on the advice of the Prime Minister appoint other Menteri (Ministers) from among the members of either House of Parliament

What it says here is in order to have a functioning government, the Yang DiPertuan Agong would have to first appoint a Prime Minister who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the Dewan Rakyat members. The term ‘who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of that House‘ here is critically important and we shall visit this aspect later.  This term and Article must be read together with Article 40(2) of the Federal Constitution that says:

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may act in his discretion in the performance of the following functions, that is to say:

(a) the appointment of a Prime Minister;

(b) the withholding of consent to a request for the dissolution of Parliament;

What it means according to Article 40(2) of the Federal Constitution is that the Yang DiPertuan Agong has the discretionary power to appoint the Prime Minister subject to his own discretion but limited to the ambit of Article 43(2) of the same.  In Article 43(5) states that only Ministers can be dismissed by the Yang DiPertuan Agong on the advice of the Prime Minister:

Subject to Clause (4), Ministers other than the Prime Minister shall hold office during the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, unless the appointment of any Minister shall have been revoked by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the advice of the Prime Minister but any Minister may resign his office.

In Teh Chang Poh vs PP (1979 – 1 MLJ 50) William John Kenneth Diplock (Lord Diplock) opined the following:

Although this, like other powers under the Constitution, is conferred nominally upon the Yang di-Pertuan Agong by virtue of his office as the Supreme Head of the Federation and is expressed to be exercisable if he is satisfied of a particular matter, his functions are those of a constitutional monarch and except on matters that do not concern the instant appeal, he does not exercise any of his functions under the Constitution on his own initiative but is required by Article 40(1) to act in accordance with the advice of the Cabinet. So when one finds in the Constitution itself or in a Federal law powers conferred upon the Yang di-Pertuan Agong that are expressed to be exercisable if he is of opinion or is satisfied that a particular state of affair exists or that particular action is necessary, the reference to his opinion or satisfaction is in reality a reference to the collective opinion or satisfaction of the members of the Cabinet, or the opinion or satisfaction of a particular Minister to whom the Cabinet have delegated their authority to give advice upon the matter in question.

Therefore, Constitutionally-speaking, the Prime Minister can only be replaced in only two circumstances:

  1. when the Prime Minister loses the majority of support of the members of the Dewan Rakyat (therefore the appointment of a new one would have to be based on the judgment of His Majesty the Yang DiPertuan Agong that has the most majority support of the Dewan, or,
  2. A General Election causes the Prime Minister to lose his parliamentary seat, and His Majesty would have to appoint one before appointing a Cabinet as prescribed in Article 43(2)(a).

The Yang DiPertuan Agong therefore cannot act ultra vires.

So, why is Mahathir’s Schwarze Korps so eager in pushing the idea of the Rulers Institution being able to remove a Prime Minister?

The answer is: propaganda that only zombies would accept at face value.

Just like the 1MDB issue where Schwarze Dummkopf A Kadir Jasin et al are saying that the investigation into the case has stopped altogether, whereas the Inspector-General of Police had announced on 19 August 2016 that the investigation into the 1MDB issue has entered its second phase!

I guess Mahathir’s interest in ousting Najib Razak is just so one of his Pribumis could be appointed as the Prime Minister. For that reason he is trying to make a pact with Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR. He knows that his lie about the powers of the Agong to remove Najib Razak will soon be debunked, and that it is just noise – no substance.  Therefore, he would need to work with PKR, DAP and jumpers from the BN to oust Najib Razak in accordance with Article 43(2)(a).

However, despite declaring that Muhyiddin would become the Prime Minister if the Opposition wins, we all know that the protem President of Parti Pribumi would never make it as the Prime Minister.  Muhyiddin has far too many baggages that would be easy to pick on.  His son Mukhriz is the favourite contender. He said so HERE.

Mahathir's confession that he wants his son Mukhriz to become the PM instead of Muhyiddin
Mahathir’s confession that he wants his son Mukhriz to become the PM instead of Muhyiddin

Well Muhyiddin, you have been had!

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Au·thor·i·tar·i·an

JOSEPH PAIRIN KITINGAN / KOTA KINABALU
Pic courtesy of NSTP/Datu Ruslan Sulai

Former Sabah Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan knows very well what Mahathir would do to those he hates.  He experienced that first hand in 1990 when Mahathir went all out to try depose him as Chief Minister. Pairin was Chief Minister of Sabah from 1984 to 1995.

Speaking to reporters after receiving a courtesy visit from the Kadazandusun Cultural Association Youth Council yesterday Pairin said that when Mahathir is a ‘political animal’ who, when he does not like a person, would go all out (to get the person out of his way).

Therefore, it comes as no surprise to Pairin when Mahathir would form a new party and work with his enemies just to try force Najib Razak out of office.

In politics, anything goes – wrote Awang Selamat, a pseudonym used for Utusan Malaysia’s editorials. And that includes trying to erase his dark past by working with DAP’s Lim Kit Siang whom he had put behind bars without trial during his tenure.  It was Mahathir whom had planted the idea that DAP is nothing less than the enemies of the Malays and what Malaysia stands for, in the mind of the Malay masses.  Equally disgusting is Lim Kit Siang whom had spent most of his life in DAP slandering Mahathir as being the most corrupted dictator, now seen being in the same bed with Mahathir.

Another person who would know Mahathir well is Tan Sri Musa Hitam, who was Mahathir’s deputy from 1981 to 1986. While he described Mahathir as “observant, innovative, and meticulous” he also used the words “authoritarian, contemptuous, and belligerent”.

In an article by The Star, Musa said Dr Mahathir could be pleasant and engaging at times, but would often come off as being disinterested in dialogue or debate.

“Discussion and debate were never the order of the day,” he wrote in his book ‘Frankly Speaking’ which was recently launched by His Royal Highness the Sultan of Perak.

memali-dr-mahathir-dan-musa-hitam
“Discussion and debate were never the order of the day.” – Musa Hitam describing Mahathir

In his book Musa wrote:

“Malaysia today is going through a difficult transition. Trying to establish a mature democracy after more than two decades of authoritarian rule is not easy. Moreover, there is no guarantee that the current, more open political system will continue. Malaysia would, in fact, find itself gripped by reactionary forces that even now are advocating policies and practices that – if adopted – would eventually result in the country becoming a failed state.”

This was echoed by the former Grand Mufti of Jordan, Professor Dr Amin Mohammad Sallam al-Manasyeh in an interview with the portal MalaysiaGazette. “I am of the opinion that if Allah gives him (Najib) time, he will continue to develop and position Malaysia as the best country in the world. That’s what I think about him,” he said in the interview.

I, too, had doubts about Najib Razak’s ability to do well as the leader of this country.  Up until April of 2015 at least, I and like-minded friends did not think that he would last in the face of relentless acrid attacks by Mahathir. By May, Mahathir faltered and changed goalposts several times while Najib Razak stood firm, unwilling to budge even a bit.  Most of us saw that the light shone by Najib in the tunnel of lies made by his detractors is far brighter than the one shone by Mahathir.  And this year, Mahathir received multiple slaps first in the form of the resignation of his son Mukhriz as the Menteri Besar after being told by the Council of Regent of Kedah that he had lost majority support of the State Assembly.  This was followed by his own resignation from UMNO. Then came the hattrick wins in Sarawak, Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar elections where, despite Mahathir’s claims, Barisan Nasional still won. And then he was conned by his own people for faking more than half a million signatures of people reportedly in support of his ‘Save Malaysia’ declaration.

mukhriz
Mukhriz, seen here with Tan Sri Tunku Sallehuddin ibni Almarhum Sultan Badlishah, Chairman of the Council of Regent of Kedah (right), and council member Tan Sri Tunku Abdul Hamid Thani, leaving the Wisma Darul Aman after a meeting with the Council of Regent.

One would think that at 91, Mahathir would take it slow and call it a day.  Well, that is not Mahathir. In the end he sets up another political party called Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (BERSATU) where Najib’s former deputy Muhyiddin Yassin becomes the pro-tem President, and his son Mukhriz the pro-tem Treasurer.  And where is Mahathir in this party? He positions himself as Lim Kit Siang has – the Puppet Master.  Despite being a political giant, Muhyiddin has all but lost support in Pagoh and Muar.  Many Johoreans still remember him for his sins committed against the Malays. He would now have to find another seat to contest in.  Otherwise his political career is as good as over.

Admitted to the National Heart Institute for medical complications the day his party’s registration form was submitted to the Registrar of Societies, Mahathir’s first act upon being ill was to post a blog article attacking Najib, not taking care of his health or coming to a realisation that his days as a mortal are numbered, and that instead of creating more sins, he should repent. No, things like that never seem important to Mahathir. And neither would the parasites who call themselves “his advisers” advise the old man to slow down. Instead, they feed his anger, and he in turn feeds them for making him angry. And Mahathir should remember that whenever he, the authoritarian, gets angry, he loses support.  Zuraidah Ibrahim aptly puts it in the South China Morning Post:

Instead of departing on his terms, as he did in 2003, he may now find himself leaving the scene a loser.

For Najib Razak, it is business as usual. As in the old adage wrongly attributed to Thomas Jefferson:

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.

And like a rock does he stand.

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Bagilah Muhyiddin Buat Kerja

  
Kemelut yang berlaku di Kedah bukanlah suatu perkara baru. Desas-desus ketidakpercayaan terhadap Mukhriz Mahathir oleh UMNO Kedah telah lama berkumandang melalui radio-radio karat. Malah salah seorang pegawai khas beliau juga telah meletak jawatan dan pulang ke Selangor.

Hari ini, sekumpulan orang yang mewakili kepimpinan tertinggi 15 buah bahagian UMNO di negeri Kedah telah menyuarakan rasa tidak puas hati terhadap Mukhriz. 15 bahagian UMNO mewakili tidak kurang daripada 600 buah cawangan UMNO. Pergerakan ini adalah 75 kali lebih besar dari lapan buah cawangan yang meminta supaya Najib Razak meletak jawatan. Anihnya tidak pula kedengaran Mahathir menyuruh anaknya agar mendengar suara akar umbi.

Walau bagaimanapun, saya kurang bersetuju permintaan kumpulan ini agar Najib bertindak untuk mengundurkan Mukhriz. Selain menjadi Presiden UMNO, Najib juga mempunyai tanggungjawab untuk mengemudi halatuju negara. Maka perkara yang kurang besar ini boleh diserahkan kepada pemegang jawatan yang lain.

Ada eloknya tanggungjawab menyelesaikan kemelut ini diserah kepada Muhyiddin Yassin selaku Timbalan Presiden. Apatah lagi selain membuat “road show” peribadi dan membaca akhbar hiburan seperti The Edge dan Sarawak Report, beliau tidak menpunyai lain-lain tanggungjawab. Selain Shafie Apdal, lakn-lain Naib Presiden juga sibuk menjaga hal ehwal keselamatan negara.

Eloklah Muhyiddin selaku Timbalan Presiden bertindak selesaikan kemelut ini. Mukhriz bukannya lain orang; dia anak kepada penyokong Muhyiddin paling kuat!

Bagilah Muhyiddin buat kerja pula…