Worry no more, Dr M - Anwar can do better than you

LETTER | Worry no more, Dr M - Anwar can do better than you

P Ramakrishnan


LETTER | For his own good, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad should just fade away from Malaysian politics. The more he comments on politics, the more he leaves us with no doubt that he has become irrelevant to the national affairs of Malaysia.

In an interview with Berita Harian, as reported by Free Malaysia Today (Dec 25, 2022), he was quoted as saying: “Anwar also seemed preoccupied with maintaining support in the Dewan Rakyat.”

For Mahathir to say this just six days after Anwar’s support had been indisputably settled in Parliament by an overwhelming majority, it only confirms that he is no longer in touch with the political developments in the country.

Six days earlier, on Dec 19, Anwar won his vote of confidence and the elections of the Dewan Rakyat speaker and his deputies on the same day proved that the new prime minister has the support of two-thirds of MPs in the House.

The vote secured and legitimised his position, once and for all. For Mahathir to be unaware of this speaks very poorly of him.

His lack of confidence “in the prime minister’s ability to face the current economic downturn and help in the post-Covid-19 recovery” also seems to be nonsense. Mahathir didn’t provide any supporting evidence to justify his assertion. It was an outlandish claim from a man who is totally in the dark of what is happening in the country.

Who really cares whether he has any confidence in Anwar? The prime minister was not elected on the basis of Mahathir’s confidence. He was elected on his own merit and endorsed by Parliament.

Anwar’s coalition - Pakatan Harapan - won the most number of seats in the 15th general election, and with cooperation from other political parties, he cobbled together a government that is functioning beyond expectation.

So far, Malaysians have been impressed with his statements and comments as to how he intends to steer the country for the larger good of the nation. In just one month after being sworn in as PM, he has generated a lot of confidence in his leadership.

Let’s assure Mahathir, “Worry no more, Dr M – Anwar can do a far better job than you did in your two stints as PM. You had nearly 24 years, not just to govern, but to rule Malaysia. What better results did you produce or provide?”

You scuttled a duly elected government of the people by foolishly resigning in 2020. You thought that Malaysia was beholden to you and that you would be reappointed with a free hand to form a government of your choice. That did not happen. What happened was that Malaysia could move on without you.

To reinforce this fact, you were trounced in your Langkawi federal constituency. You not only came fourth out of five contestants but unbelievably lost your deposit as well! No former prime minister had ever suffered such humiliation.

Not only that, your entire party Pejuang got wiped out. Every electoral candidate fielded by your party was totally and completely rejected, with every one of them losing their deposit.

The 158 Pejuang parliamentary and state candidates suffered such a crushing defeat, they lost deposits totalling RM1,365,000.

What more convincing do you need that you are no longer wanted? Your time is up. It’s time to pack up and go.

And please do not tell us about Anwar’s listening to the opinions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund during the Asian Financial Crisis. For the record, Anwar never agreed to their total prescription, only partial.

And do remember that countries that took the World Bank/IMF prescription such as Thailand and Indonesia are doing comparatively well, relative to Malaysia.

With respect, your unorthodox and contrarian pegging of the ringgit to the American greenback, therefore, can never be the total answer that you claimed it to be. Look again at Thailand and Indonesia, please.