Tuesday, 10 September 2013 12:06 Why Mahathir is Malaysia’s worst ever prime minister? Written by Christopher Fernandez, Malaysia Chronicle font size decrease font size increase font size Print E-mail Video Comments ( 22 ) Rate this item 12345(19 votes) More and more Malaysians are now beginning to feel the anger and disappointment over the politics of Mahathir Mohammad, from the time of his tenure as prime minister, as a range of revelations are unearthed over the atrocities and wrongdoings committed by him. It is easy to see why and sympathize with Malaysians for being hoodwinked by the sly and cunning Mahathir. He had obviously charmed them by coming across as a person who cared for Malaysians and their concerns. But upon the close of his prime minister-ship and the opening up of social media, there has emerged a wide gamut of allegations of impropriety and wrongdoing by him that can even be considered criminal in nature in a number of instances. But has anything come of it? Has Mahathir even been questioned over any of these allegations by any law enforcement agency in this country? This really is startling and the reason why most Malaysians now believe Mahathir lives above the laws of this country. This makes a sheer mockery of democracy and a grave travesty of justice, that he lives like a dictator and can get of scot free from any form of punishment. It’s amazing as this is the complete opposite of what BN and especially UMNO seem to champion for Malays and Malaysians. Mahathir’s agenda started young While Tunku Abdul Rahman and his peers battled for democracy, the young and bespectacled Mahathir was waiting in the wings, having served a while as a medical doctor, for the opportunity for him to take center-stage in Malaysian politics. With the departure of Singapore from Malaysia and the embattled Tunku having done the right thing in keeping with the principles of democracy, the young Mahathir took upon the challenge to be a barking dog, snarling and baring his fangs at Lee Kuan Yew. As evidenced today, the Tunku did the perfect and right thing when anyone can witness how far ahead and advanced Singapore has become as an island-republic. It was Mahathir who was downright mean and wrong for going against the wishes of the Tunku. Prior after this, Mahathir emerged as a racist and Malay chauvinist. This is quite queer because personally Mahathir is not a racist or a chauvinist of any kind. This comes across as a bit of a dichotomy between his thinking and behavior. The reason why Mahathir acted thus was because it served a purpose to play the racial card in multi-racial Malaysia. BY doing so he charmed and wooed the majority of Malays and got them to put their weight of support behind him. By penning “The Malay Dilemma,” he was able to articulate his views in such a manner as to give credence and justify the implementation of the cruel and evil New Economic Policy (NEP) and affirmative-action program to assist bumiputras who were languishing economically but which only served to establish the Malay elite. While Mahathir in his heart couldn’t care a damn what actually happens to the Malays, he made sure he was able to come across as the champion of the Malay struggle. He made use of the votes of the Malay heartland to come to power and stay by painting a false image that he was looking out for the Malays. In thus doing so, while the Malays moved forward marginally the Malay elite consisting of Mahathir and cronies moved forward to amass and seize the largest measure of the growing economic pie. There was no equitable distribution of wealth as claimed by the proponents of the NEP. While all his ploys went well all along, Mahathir suffered a major setback when he was forced to dismiss Anwar Ibrahim as deputy prime minister of Malaysia. This is what triggered a chain of events in which Malaysia went into a state of turmoil and confusion. Questions, doubts and suspicions of Mahathir’s roles Since the 1997 and 1998 financial meltdown, which witnessed Malaysians suffering acutely, life has never been the same in this country. The reason is because a growing range of questions, doubts and suspicions began to loom over what role Mahathir played in a range of activities that were of a dubious nature. Very obviously Mahathir was behind the scene after his departure as prime minister to tinker and manipulate with the Badawi and Najib administration even till today. His role now appears to be prime minister-in-retirement and both Badawi and Najib his stooges. Badawi and Najib are puppets on a string while the puppeteer appears to be Mahathir who seems to have the final say in UMNO and BN. This is why the way ahead for the nation is fraught with danger and difficulties. Democracy has been severely compromised by Mahathir, the judiciary suffering a crisis of credibility and law enforcement agencies practicing selective prosecution and skewered justice. This is why Malaysia has descended into a state on the danger of being branded a rogue nation. The current spate of shooting and killings that are an ongoing specter, the rising and unabated crime rate are indicators which serve to confirm to international and institutional investors that the political climate in Malaysia has become unstable with Mahathir in a state of confusion and dither as to what to do. Malaysia has become an unstable nation because of the workings of Mahathir over the years to favor a select group of individuals and cronies instead of spreading out the wealth for all Malaysians to enjoy. This wickedness begun by Mahathir has cost Malaysia dearly when Fitch’s rating switched from “stable” to “negative.” This confirms the suspicions of Malaysians that the country is heading into deeper trouble. If only Mahathir has opted to play by the tenets and obligations of democracy and practiced meritocracy to begin with, all will be well with Malaysia. But with Mahathir practicing partisan politics and being biased and prejudiced, the rot has set in into Malaysian politics. The only option now for Malaysians to survive and prosper the coming ordeal is to throw out the completely corrupt BN and be willing to opt for a more favorable option like Pakatan Rakyat (PR). PR can serve the perfect anti-dote and cure the ills that Malaysia is suffering from due to the politics of Mahathir. While the past is the past, it is important for Malaysians to learn their lessons from the experience of being with leaders like Mahathir to ensure that no such evil leaders surface in future in this country. It is important for democracy to be restored in full. And only a political organization like PR exists in Malaysia to serve this purpose. By passing the mantle of power to PR, Malaysians of all walks of life can be safely assured that they will survive and prosper. To stick with BN is to not only court trouble but disaster and destruction, the damage of which is already being witnessed and if BN is allowed a longer term of office, the damage might be just about irreversible and be impossible to undo. Malaysia Chronicle Full article: malaysia-chronicle/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=158892:why-mahathir-is-malaysia’s-worst-ever-prime-minister?&Itemid=2#ixzz2eTo4cZIB Follow us: @M
Posted on: Tue, 10 Sep 2013 09:18:56 +0000
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