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Friday, June 19, 2020

22 reasons why Dr M cannot be the next PM


Malaysiakini:

22 reasons why Dr M cannot be the next PM

by P Gunasegaram


Mahathir held a Malay Dignity Congress to which he invited PAS and UMNO. There racist diatribes were uttered shamelessly and hurled at non-Malay Malaysians, who BTW a racist Mahathir (then as a Pakatan Harapan PM) referred to as 'orang asing' (foreigners)



Why this article? Because there has been a raucous cry for Dr Mahathir Mohamad to be installed as the prime minister yet again - the only one the Malays respect, the only one who can keep everyone together, we need him, he is competent, etc.

But these are lies as we shall show shortly, shouted and screamed by his supporters and troopers and those way too desperate to get back into power after tasting it for some time. For others, especially those whose tongues are rather restrained right now, it may be a matter of whether they are prosecuted or not, they remain silent, letting others speak for them.

And why 22 reasons? Because by some quirk of fate he was PM the second time around for some 22 months, after his 22-year reign ending in 2003 in his earlier stint. After 17 years, at the ripe old age of 93, he was back in the saddle, riding again.

In June 2006, I wrote an article about what I thought about his 22-year stint previously through 22 groups of questions making, as you might expect, unflattering conclusions about his leadership. The article was entitled “22 Questions for Mahathir” one, for each year he was in office. You can look at the questions and conclusions here if you have missed or forgotten them.




In this pivotal moment in the history of the country I thought it would be good, that in the same vein 14 years ago, I offer 22 reasons, one for each month he was in office, why he should NOT be PM yet again. Believe me, there are more reasons than that - I had to edit them down.

Without further ado, let’s get into the reasons. In the interest of brevity and readability I am not going to say too much but state one or two of the most important supports for my assertions. Here goes:

1. He cannot be trusted as he breaks promises and lies. He promised over and over again that Anwar Ibrahim would succeed him when he had no intention to let him do so. He said much earlier that his only aim was to remove Najib Razak as PM but changed his tune later.


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2. He broke manifesto promises. He excused that by saying he did not expect Pakatan Harapan to win. The truth was he did not want to because many of the promises could be quite easily met. He even pulled out of a commitment to sign Icerd, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.


3. He did not reform and he had no plan. He did not make any of the reforms promised, especially with regard to balancing powers within the administration and reducing the power of the PM. Instead he became dictatorial despite, having only 13 MPs out of 222 under his wing, including himself, in the 2018 elections. He offered no plan for the nation going forward.

4. He gave more power to Daim than the cabinet. One of the first things he did after becoming PM again was to appoint his bosom buddy and crony Daim Zainuddin to head the controversial Council of Eminent Persons and gave them 100 days to come up with a plan. They usurped the powers of the cabinet and their recommendations were filed away under the Officials Secrets Act. No plan.

5. He divided Harapan by playing the parties against each other. He schemed to do this, and sad to say, it was so good that Harapan itself broke down and there was a change in government.


6. He drove a wedge between PKR and DAP by cleverly making DAP stalwart Lim Guan Eng finance minister, earning the DAP’s eternal gratitude and grovelling which made them say it was the PM’s prerogative over every questionable action Mahathir took.

7. He encouraged Azmin to rise against Anwar. Secure with DAP support but not wanting Anwar to succeed, he drove a wedge between Anwar and his long-time supporter Azmin Ali by simply offering him the post of minister of economic affairs - no cabinet post for Anwar though.

Simultaneously he took some power off Lim, now desperate for the third coming of Mahathir which would ensure his corruption charge would not be resurrected.

8. His cabinet was out of all proportion to popular representation. Every single MP of his 13 got important posts - prime minister, home minister, four other full ministers, six deputy ministers and one chief minister (his son). Other chief minister posts went to Bersatu assemblypersons, for example, Perak and Johor.


9. He was not consultative. He was brutally open about it - prime ministerial prerogative.

10. He made dubious appointments. Again, he claimed it was his prerogative. A standout example: An Anwar opponent became MACC chief.


11. He wanted another Malaysian car. He went back to this old nonsense which cost Malaysian car buyers hundreds of billions in extra duties - this time it was to be some sort of electric vehicle.

12. He is too close to cronies. One example - he holds meetings at the Albukhary Foundation where he and his wife are given huge offices. How can he not favour businessman billionaire Syed Mokhtar Albukhary?

13. He tried to sell national assets to cronies. His pretext was that Khazanah Nasional was not selling assets to bumiputeras - it had no such mandate. He used pressure to force the entire Khazanah Board to resign.

14. He made bad deals with China. Originally, that RM66 billion East Coast Rail Link project was supposed to be cancelled but miraculously Daim saved it through secret negotiations. Through other undercover deals he “saved” other projects too, projects Malaysia did not need. How brilliant!

15. He has no significant Malay support. His party, which was supposed to bring in the Malay heartland votes was thrashed by Umno and PAS. Bersatu contested only in Peninsular Malaysia, and among Harapan coalition partners contested the most seats here with 52, followed by PKR with 51, DAP with 39 and Amanah with 27. PKR won over 80% of seats contested in the peninsula but 67% overall. DAP won 89% of seats contested. Also, remember Tanjong Piai. Enough said.

16. He has only five MPs, including himself. Much of his own party abandoned him and he got sacked from Bersatu, and is now challenging that decision. Still, he wants to be PM? How ridiculous! Ask him to go get some numbers first.

17. He is too old and too incompetent. At 95, he is showing his age. This job requires someone more mentally alert, with more stamina. Mahathir does not cut it. He is incompetent. When the incompetent don’t realise they are, they become much more dangerous because they think they know it all and experiment. Mahathir’s experiments have been far too costly.

18. He had his chance. And yes, 22 years and 22 months is more than enough time to make his mark. He does not need any more opportunities.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend…. | weehingthong

19. He simply does not deserve it. What did he do to deserve another chance? Was he exceptional, innovative and brilliant? No, he was dull, jaded, faded and completely clueless as to what to do.

20. If he is given a chance, he will play us all out again. Even if he signed a legal statement to stay on for just 22 days or 22 hours, he will break it. It is his nature to cling to power at all costs.

21. He was responsible for the entire mess in the first place. How could one even think of making him PM again when he had all the power, did nothing and then ruined the party by refusing to stick to his promise. He was responsible for the Sheraton Move and was prepared to betray Harapan yet again until Muhyiddin Yassin beat him to it and betrayed both Mahathir and Harapan.

22. It is time for him to compromise. For too long, others had to wait while this man fiddled about, taking his time, not doing anything and making weird self-centred statements all over the place. It’s time he went away instead. He has long overstayed his welcome.

Well, that’s the 22 reasons. Revisit them and you will agree it is absolutely crazy and mad to have him back. I believe that most Malaysians are decent, sane people and therefore humbly assert I speak for most Malaysians.

If he does not agree to support the Harapan candidate, sack him and those who support him. Let him ride into the sunset and let the sunset on him. We have had enough, he has done enough damage to the country, more than any other man.

You cannot go to war with an ally who has betrayed you numerous times. You must cut the gangrene out to save the limb before it is too late. We have already waited too long. No more compromises please, Harapan - and PKR.


7 comments:

  1. P Ramasamy's position will lead to PH's immediate split. 9 Warisan MPs may join PN, with all the temptations now on offer. Opening the door for Muhyiddin to call for snap elections.

    Liew Chin Tong's position keeps the PH coalition together for now, alive and viable. Accept Toonsie as an ally for now, and deal with the Devil later.

    QUOTE
    Anwar-Mahathir unity can defeat the dark side
    18 Jun 2020

    DR Mahathir Mohamad is our friend and ally. So are Anwar Ibrahim and Shafie Apdal. Together we have worked hard to gain the people’s trust for Pakatan Harapan in the 14th general election of 2018. Unity won the day.

    However, we are now in a very difficult moment in our political struggle. Each of our decisions will now have huge consequences for Malaysia.

    Since the fall of the government as a result of the Sheraton coup, the DAP national leadership is patiently, cautiously and painstakingly walking each step with our allies in PH Plus.

    Our twin objectives are to hold together the coalition and to reclaim the people’s mandate that had been stolen by traitors among our ranks with the help of Umno.

    Mahathir is an ally. It was the Sheraton coup plotters who forced Dr Mahathir to accept a coalition government between his party Bersatu and the Umno-PAS pact. He refused, and resigned on February 24. He declined to cooperate with leaders, such as Najib Razak, who were charged in courts for plundering and robbing the nation.

    On the morning of February 29, PH realigned with Dr Mahathir to re-nominate him as prime minister. That evening, he chaired a PH presidential council meeting, Anwar attended, at the Yayasan Al-Bukhary in Kuala Lumpur.

    On March 1, Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as PM. All PH MPs, including Anwar, gathered to support Dr Mahathir to reclaim our mandate.

    We need Dr Mahathir and Anwar to work together. Portraying Dr Mahathir as the opponent is the wrong basis to start. The real enemies are Muhyiddin, Najib, Azmin Ali and gang in Perikatan Nasional.

    Warisan is the linchpin. The attempted “shopping spree” to buy over politicians by Home Minister Hamzah Zainuddin in Sabah with the aim of causing the collapse of the Warisan-led Sabah government should also tell us who the enemies are.

    If anyone from PH treats Hamzah – one of the plotters of the Sheraton coup – as a potential ally, he or she is making a fatal mistake.

    Shafie Apdal and his party Warisan are actually the linchpin in our effort to reclaim the mandate.

    DAP, PKR and Amanah have 91 seats in Parliament. This number is not sufficient in our battle against Muhyiddin’s hastily cobbled coalition of kleptocrats, which has no moral standing and ready to sink to abysmal depths to stay in office.

    Warisan and the Bersatu faction aligned with Dr Mahathir serve as the “bridge” to 112 seats, the simple majority needed to form a government. With them, the 91 seats are extended to 109, and possibly more. The moment the 109 is firmly consolidated, the parliamentary route to reclaim our mandate would be in place.

    Warisan’s linchpin role caused Hamzah’s wrath. I am thankful and glad that the Warisan-led Sabah government is intact, and we are expressing our solidarity with our colleagues in Warisan and Sabah’s PH.

    A snap election is possible. The best way to reclaim the mandate is to get back the support of responsible MPs who put the nation above any other self-interest. Yet we are prepared for any possibility of a general election, especially when we know that the current administration is very shaky and facing internal squabbles.

    If there is a snap election in the months to come, PH needs to work with Dr Mahathir, Anwar and Warisan to fight Perikatan Nasional.
    ....continued

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  2. ....continued

    In the 2008 and 2013 general elections, Pakatan won 80 out 165 seats in the peninsula. In 2013 and 2018, our aim was to win 100 seats in the peninsula so that we would have enough to form the federal government. With 80 seats, we failed in 2013. In 2018, Pakatan finally won 98 seats in the peninsula.

    Muhyiddin is allegedly very confident of a general election victory. I don’t think it would be that easy. Of the peninsula’s 165 seats, if voter turnout is above 80% across the board, I am confident that PH will win at least 85 seats.

    With a substantial swing in our favour in Sabah and Sarawak as a result of antipathy against the PN coalition, especially the roles played by PAS and Umno, I expect substantial gains in the Borneo states. Sabah and Sarawak will be the game-changer if there are snap polls.

    DAP supports Anwar. The now widely available audio of the PH presidential council meeting on February 21 proves that DAP and Amanah leaders championed the Mahathir-Anwar collaboration based on the January 7, 2018, deal. This means it is Anwar who will take over as Prime Minister after Mahathir, and no one else.

    On February 25, DAP and Amanah decided to support Anwar, and instructed all their MPs to support the PKR president when they met Yang di-Pertuan Agong on February 26.

    In the last 20 years, DAP and Amanah (many of them were in PAS before) have been supporting Anwar through thick and thin, and never deserted him.

    The Anwar-Mahathir pact in 2017-18 was in fact sealed with full support from DAP and Amanah despite Azmin Ali’s vehement opposition. PH leadership knew that only a Mahathir premiership would provide room and space for Anwar to return to top after prison, as Muhyiddin and Azmin were both aspiring to be PM.

    As pointed out by DAP Organising Secretary Anthony Loke yesterday, two options were decided at the PH presidential council on May 30.

    Option 1 – Anwar as PM and Mukhriz Mahathir DPM was fully exhausted as it was deemed unable to provide the bridge to 112 and beyond.

    Option 2 – Dr Mahathir as PM and Anwar DPM.

    After numerous meetings, it was later decided that for Option 2, Dr Mahathir would stay for six months before handing over to Anwar.

    We are of the view that the surest way for Anwar to be prime minister is through the collaboration with Dr Mahathir and Warisan. Through the Dr Mahathir-Anwar combo and with the support from DAP, Amanah, Warisan and Dr Mahathir’s faction of Bersatu, Anwar will be prime minister six months after the grand coalition reclaims power.

    A strong coalition with Anwar, Dr Mahathir, Shafie, PKR, DAP and Amanah will have the strength and quality to reclaim the mandate and to build a long-lasting government in which both the forces of Dr Mahathir and Anwar would still support the coalition even if their leader is not the prime Minister.

    Even if there are snap polls, a united PH Plus coalition has the capacity, capability and the people’s support to defeat the Muhyiddin-Najib kleptocratic coalition.

    Lest we forget, Hamzah Zainuddin is neither a friend nor an ally. He belongs to the dark side. – June 18, 2020.
    UNQUOTE

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  3. Financetwitter talks sense (but I'm sure KT will tip-toe around this one ha ha ha); keep the PH coalition intact first, and make sure Warisan remains supportive of PH, then deal with the Devil later.

    PN are doing the best to win over Sabah, just like they have done in Sarawak by forcing Petronas to hand over 2.8 billion in petroleum taxes without a fight, resulting in the resignation of their CEO, in disgust.

    You can take the high road like Ronnie and Ramasamy, and end up with a broken PH and a walkover for PN in a snap election.

    QUOTE
    Regardless of Anwar Ibrahim's decision PKR, DAP and Amanah Must Stay United in Pakatan Harapan

    June 19th, 2020 by financetwitter

    We had written the risk of allowing Mahathir Mohamad to again become a prime minister. In a nutshell, he cannot be trusted. Anwar Ibrahim should be made the new Prime Minister, not Mahathir. Exactly why must Anwar be unfairly mistreated after all his sacrifices while the evil Mahathir, who did not even spend a single day in prison, is given the job again for the third time?

    Yes, the ideal choice to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition is for Anwar to be crowned as the 9th Prime Minister. Screw Mahathir! Long live Anwar! But that was “before” Sabah-based Warisan leader, Shafee Apdal, announced that his choice must be the 94-year-old Mahathir. So in reality, even with the entire PH’s 91 votes behind him, Anwar cannot become the next premier.

    The best scenario is for Anwar to become the PM and Mahathir’s son, Mukhriz, as deputy PM with the bonus of Mahathir as Mentor Minister thrown in. But such proposal failed to take off. Therefore, the next option is to work with the devil himself – Mahathir – in order to snatch back the government from backdoor Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is doing all the UMNO dirty works.

    The Mahathir-Anwar combo is not the ideal solution, but unfortunately, it is the only realistic workaround on the table simply because Anwar could not convince either Sabah-based Warisan (9 MPs) or Sarawak-based GPS (18 MPs) to support him – pure and simple! Which part of this that Mahathir-haters or Anwar-supporters don’t understand? A perfect and ideal solution is unavailable.

    However, when DAP’s organising secretary, Anthony Loke Siew Fook, revealed that both DAP and Amanah are waiting for PKR president Anwar Ibrahim to decide on the tag-team combo, all hell breaks loose. Anwar’s aide, Perak PKR Chief Mohd Farhash Wafa Salvador Rizal Mubarak, has condemned DAP – “Is this how you repay Anwar for a friendship built over 20 years?”
    ......continued

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  4. Seriously? Does the Anwar’s aide really want to go there? When Mahathir unleashed Zakir Naik to bark and insult the non-Malays, telling the Chinese to go back to China and the Hindus to go back to India, where was Anwar Ibrahim? Anwar obediently agreed with Mahathir not to extradite the hate preacher. Is that how Anwar repay non-Malays for a friendship built over 20 years?

    Selangor PKR Youth secretary Ahmad Syukri Abd Razab has even suggested that Anwar quit the Pakatan Harapan coalition to teach DAP and Amanah a lesson. Why must PKR go ballistic when DAP was merely asking Anwar not to drag his feet and decide about the Mahathir-Anwar combo? If Anwar and his party do not agree, just say so. There’s no need to threaten.
    .....continued

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    Replies
    1. where was DAP when Mahathir played footsie tootsie with Zakir? Boe Laam Phar

      Delete
  5. .....
    It’s the childish behaviour of PKR leaders like Mohd Farhash and Ahmad Syukri, as well as Anwar’s indecisiveness that had allowed Azmin Ali to easily manipulate and betray the party in the first place. Only now PKR leaders whined, moaned and bitched about how Mahathir ignored PKR’s recommendation for ministerships, and appointed Azmin as the Economic Affairs Minister.

    Had the PKR leaders courageously threatened to quit the coalition (the same way they are threatening DAP and Amanah now) when Mahathir defiantly appointed Azmin with the evil intention of splitting PKR back in 2018, the coup might not have happened. Anwar’s boys knew it 2 years ago, but talked as if Mahathir’s plan of using Azmin as a mole in the party just happened yesterday.
    ....continued

    Fine, Mahathir had caused the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government. Can DAP and Amanah also naughtily suspect that there’s more to Anwar’s private meeting in April with Muhyiddin than meets the eye? How could Anwar meet so soon the same traitor who had conspired with Azmin and robbed his chance of becoming the 8th Prime Minister?

    After uproars over Anthony Loke’s so-called “pressure” on Anwar to speed up his response, PH secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said Anwar had travelled to Sarawak, presumably to win over the hearts of Sarawak party leaders. Another source claimed Anwar is even seeking an audience with some Malay Rulers in order to legitimise himself as the PM candidate.

    Has Anwar gotten any favourable replies from Sabah and Sarawak, let alone approvals to meet the monarchs? If not, that suggests a huge problem, is it not? Forget Sarawak, which is a harder nut to crack. Let’s talk about Sabah. Did Anwar at least manage to convince Chief Minister Shafee Apdal to support him as the 10th Prime Minister after Mahathir’s exit in 6 months?

    Like it or not, the fact remains that Anwar Ibrahim, and Pakatan Harapan (formerly Pakatan Rakyat) for that matter, had tried for 20 years to unseat the mighty Barisan Nasional regime without any success – until the alliance with Mahathir. And now the same old man wanted to get rid of Perikatan Nasional regime, a common enemy, but PKR is getting very emotional instead of objective.

    Even if Mahathir has no intention of stepping down after 6 months as promised, one thing is pretty sure – he desperately wants to send UMNO crooks like Najib Razak, Zahid Hamidi, Tengku Adnan, Bung Moktar and Azeez Abdul Rahim to prison. If PKR thinks it’s not worthwhile to even see these spectacular fireworks, then reject Mahathir’s proposal. Just be decisive!

    But besides waiting for the next 15th General Election, which may not happen after all until 2023 because the backdoor government of Muhyiddin is no longer under threat thanks to the failure of Mahathir-Anwar combo, what else can PKR and PH do? Has anyone noticed the return of the old UMNO regime with government critics increasingly being charged with sedition?

    We’ve also published previously that there’s no right or wrong answer as to whether PH should work again with Mahathir. It depends on how desperate PH wants to take back its legitimate power – immediately or wait until the next general election, which is about 3 years away. At the end of the day, if Pakatan Harapan value principles more than politics, then continues as the Opposition.

    The most important part is for all the component parties – PKR, DAP and Amanah – to stay united. If PKR decides to let Muhyiddin rules and plunders until 2023, then DAP and Amanah should abandon the plan to work with Mahathir again and close ranks to prevent Pakatan Harapan from a total collapse. But get ready to accept that what is happening to Hannah Yeoh will continue for the next 3 years.
    UNQUOTE

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  6. then anwar hv to be firm n not sound so dubious n make his stand clearly. anwar lack determination, he always give an impression he is ready to compromise. conman is the opposite, everyone can see he is leading the fight against a backdoor govt while anwar seem forever waiting for someone to offer him something. anwar must realise he has nothing to lose, he is a nobody for almost 20 years or he still yet get used to it?

    ReplyDelete