Power is the glue of politics. That is why a government is expected to be in array and opposition generally in disarray. Ideology is a fickle custodian of unity in an age of convenience. Its absence has eliminated the difference between single-party rule and coalition government. Both are held together by individual or sectarian self-interest, which is why they last. Ideology is a differentiator; it makes a partnership untenable even if the partners consider it sustainable. Sentiment is irrelevant to any political marriage. This is true of all democracies where coalitions become necessary. Politicians live for power; why would they invite a premature death?
Mahathir a master poker player in politics, and if you want to beat him, you have to make equally masterful moves.Dr M says: "Last time when Abdullah (Ahmad Badawi) wasn't good to me, the people did not support BN. So some people still have some sympathy for me." Mahathir, Kit Siang is an elected MP and he is voicing out what many of us feel about you and your recent actions to sow fear and hatred so as to prevent a Pakatan Rakyat victory in Putrajaya.You had put someone, his son and his friends in prison without trial under the ISA. You waste away years of his life - and those of his son's and friends' - years that they cannot reclaim from you or anybody else, and now you have the gall to say ‘I don't know why he hates me so much'?You reap what you sow Mahathir. I was in a taxi this afternoon driven by a very humble Malay gentlemen and when the name Mahathir was mentioned, he instantly condemned him and his corrupt billionaire sons and swore that the name Mahathir is synonymous with debauchery, racism, bigotry and absolute corruption.
The book by former journalist Barry Wain is a must-read for all Malaysians. This vile character corrupted and destroyed every institution of our nation, planted the seed of hatred and fan the fire of racism and corruption, dividing the people and destroying the peace and unity in our country.Mahathir, I am really shocked and surprised at your statement that Lim Kit Siang hates you so much. You hated Abdullah to an extent that he had to resign immediately.Mahathir survived for 22 years as PM simply because his true beliefs and intentions were kept closely in his chest, while he cleverly win over the Chinese support through deceitful and cunning ways.
With him out of the way since 2003, his influence dwindled and the Chinese woke up from a long slumber.
Like a snake which only sheds its skin, Mahathir's brand of partisan politics cuts along racial lines, and this has always been his thoughts since he wrote ‘The Malay Dilemma'.
Expect even further drubbing from Chinese voters if he keeps up with his rhetoric.
Your hatred towards Anwar is legendary and will be a topic of analysis and discussion many more years to come. At one time, you were very hurtful to the Malay rulers, and that too due to your hatred.
One thing is for sure, when you hurt others, others are bound to hurt you. The best policy is to love all and serve all.
The destruction to this nation, and particularly his own race, will be seen in the next two generations and is irreversible, if he, his cronies and the supremacist bigots and corrupt in power are allowed to rule for another 50 years.
Just be grateful if he - and many others - don't dance on your grave.
Someone must be held accountable for the rampant corruption and the political manipulation of the judiciary, MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission), the police force and the prosecution office. History must be set right for posterity.
It is an entirely novel, and bizarre, "take" on the nation's recent political history to assert that the voters and nation turned against Umno-BN in 2008 because Pak Lah had been insufficiently friendly and respectful towards Tun Che Det.Mahathir not in control of PM Najib Razak? Just one obvious example - Khairy Jamaluddin won the Umno Youth election, he was not given a minister's post. Mahathir's son lost, but he became a deputy minister.
Mahathir, is this Najib's choice or your choice? In actual fact, Mahathir is the 'kingmaker' in Umno. He destroyed Abdullah and installed Najib as Umno president and PM.
Seeing such astonishing claims made makes you wonder. Do they really believe this kind of nonsense?
Or do they believe the rakyat are stupid enough to swallow it? That people will buy and believe this drivel simply because they, in their twilight dotage, are prepared to utter these idiocies? You don't put scores of people in detention indefinitely and have the deputy prime minister arrested and punched to a pulp and still claim that you did it for the country.We have to set the record straight. Malaysians voted against BN in 2008 because of the corruption and racialism practised by BN.
Certainly it has nothing to do with support for Mahathir for his mistreatment by the Abdullah administration. To us, Abdullah, Mahathir and PM Najib Razak are all the same. They are from a racist party and all of them are not sincere.
In fact, Abdullah and Najib were handpicked by Mahathir. So if they are lousy, the fault lies with Mahathir as he has to be responsible for choosing lousy successors.
The next election it is going to be the worst for BN. This is because despite the strong message sent by the voters in 2008, BN continue to be arrogant and corruption has gotten even worse.
Malaysians have lost their respect for him. And it's all self-inflicted.
He abused and systematically destroyed all the various public institutions in the country. Most of the ills in the country today can be traced back to him. His policies became the conduit to massive corruption, which is still being practiced today.
Sad to say, history will remember him as the father of corruption and will certainly overrides whatever good he did for the country while he was the PM.
As many have advised, the best thing for him to do now is to fully retire from politics and concentrate on his bread business instead of interfering in everything the Najib government does and promoting racist organisations such as Perkasa.
And stop blaming Abdullah for abandoning the projects he started. The crooked bridge was a foolhardy idea in the first place, meant to enrich Mahathir and his cronies and we Malaysians thank Abdullah for putting a stop to it.
Mahathir, you are confusing yourself with the country. You have done some good things, but many terrible things. Can you ever understand that?
If the truth was known to all the Malaysians, especially the poor and the lower middle classes, they would hate former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
This is because he and his cronies and his present successors in BN have stolen billions of the people's money (currently estimated at RM60 billion annually) and consequently many people still remain mired in poverty and struggle to pay their bills.Mahathir got rid of TNB (Tenaga Nasional Berhad) chief Ani Arope because he objected to a crooked IPP (independent power producer) deal that would burden the consumers.
Mahathir made that deal with Francis Yeo of YTL and is reported to have got a 30 percent in kickbacks, but now all Malaysians have to pay high tariffs because of that lop-sided deal.
But both Mahathir and Yeo have become billionaires as a result of the contributions of each and every Malaysian who pays the exorbitant electricity bills.
Now would every Malaysian, who switches on the electricity every day and struggles to pay the high bills, love or hate Mahathir? The tolled roads are yet another Mahathir rip-off.
Watch the racist in action - by creating fear and anxiety among unthinking Malays.
He first says that the kingmakers in the coming elections will be the Chinese; next, he paints himself as the helpless target of a hate campaign by a Chinese politician.
The goal of this veteran operator is to create a Chinese bogeyman ... one that will presumably drive the uninformed, unthinking Malays towards Umno.
The nerve of this man. Every statement former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad utters is tainted and contaminated with bold-faced lies, half-truths, willful concealment and downright deception.
It makes me want to upchuck every time some silly story is published about him. Indeed, Mahathirism is a word to denote, illustrate and describe ‘arrogance', ‘boldness', ‘chicanery', ‘deception', ‘evil', ‘facade', ‘gall', ‘hubris', ‘insolence', ‘jealousy' and ‘keralite'... (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K...).The issue is not whether LKS (Lim Kit Siang) hates you or otherwise. More importantly, you should ask why the majority of fair-minded Malaysians loathe you and find you repulsive.
To arrive at the answer, you only need to look into the mirror. Or see yourself through the eyes of your intellectual superior, LKY (Singapore's former PM Lee Kuan Yew).
It's nothing personal, Mahathir. You destroyed many good Malaysian values, all due to your ego. You wanted to rule forever and to achieve that, you got your support from the corrupt few.
You divided the nation through your racist outbursts. You muzzled the press, 'pocketed' the judiciary, the ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency), the police, etc. Should or shouldn't all Malaysians hate you for that?
we are tired, otherwise I would go on... 26 letters of the English language ain't enough.
Mahathir, if anyone you should hate, it is not former PM Pak Lah (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi), not Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, definitely not DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang but yourself.
we think you are one in a million in this world, but for the wrong reason. Memang Malaysia tak bernasib baik ada insan semacam engkau. Diam diamlah jikalau tak mau bertaubat.
By the way, why do you hate Pak Lah so much, Mahathir? For releasing Anwar from prison perhaps, or for stopping your pet project, the crooked bridge? Or perhaps Pak Lah didn't want to take orders from you?
To me and perhaps many rakyat, we thank Pak Lah for releasing Anwar, for aborting the crooked bridge project and for not taking orders from you.
I think the only thing that we can thank you is you mistakenly appointed Pak Lah as your successor. So, who to blame but yourself?don't know why he hates me so much," decried Mahathir. He was referring to Lim Kit Siang when the DAP leader lambasted him for his divisive racial politics.
Instead of defending himself like a politician should, Mahathir gets personal.
If the statement were to come from any old politician, we would have concluded that he/she is senile. But not Mahathir - he is a cunning and devious. Not only he may get sympathy by his strange outcry, but the finer nuance of it slants towards racism.
Kit Siang is not his nemesis, Anwar is. Yet he never gets personal with him. He is creating the perception that a DAP leader, a Chinese, is hounding him relentlessly, a Malay ex-PM.
Dr M, with due respect to you as PM for 22 years, it is in my opinion that it is you who are suffering from hallucination.
I don't think LKS (Lim Kit Siang) hates you despite the fact that he was detained in 1987 during Operation Lallang which was sanctioned by you.
I thank you for bringing development to Malaysia but your brand of dictatorial politics is over in this 21st century. Probably you feel you are God's right-hand man and can do no wrong.
You have selective memory which shows no sign of senility right now and you make statements as if it was God's creed.
But then again, when you are supposed to testify on certain occasions, somehow you lose all memory of those events with your favourite "I don't remember" tag.
Every loving citizen should respect you for your contribution to society; even I do, but not to the extent of hero worshiping you. In fact, your days of tyranny are over, so please retire graciously.
Not only does former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed appear to be clueless about why he is reviled by a large section of the Malaysian population, he also denies there is such a thing as 'Mahathirism', insisting that he had served the nation sincerely and to the best of his ability.
The veteran leader was also quick to fire a salvo at Lim Kit Siang, the DAP adviser, who recently warned of a return of 'Mahathirism' - a culture of authoritarianism, cronyism and corruption that was prevalent during the former's premiership.
""I don't know why he hates me so much. There is no such thing as ‘Mahathirism'. I served the country, that's all. As a citizen of Malaysia, I have the right to support my country and make sure it does well," Mahathir was reported as saying.
'Comeback kid' at 86
Kit Siang had also urged young voters to reject Mahathir's BN coalition at the 13th general election which must be held before the middle of next year. Otherwise, they could expect lesser civil rights and democratic space with Mahathir back in the saddle.
Indeed, it is clear the 86-year-old leader who ruled Malaysia for a damaging 22 years from 1981 to 2003 is firmly on the comeback trail. He is now widely perceived to be the 'power behind the throne' - unseating even Prime Minister Najib Razak's aggressive wife Rosmah Mansor.
More and more, Mahathir is seen as the country's 'de-facto PM' given Najib's weak grip on both the country and their Umno party.
Even the party newspaper Utusan reported the elder leader's official call to visiting Czech president in telling terms - Dr Mahathir bertemu Klaus bincang ekonomi dua negara (Dr Mahathir meets Klaus to discuss the economies of the 2 countries).
I can do better job than Badawi and Najib
While Mahathir was quick to deny he controlled Najib, he was just as quick to suggest that if he did, things could be much better for the country and the BN - the ruling coalition led by Umno.
Since 2008, the BN has lost tremendous ground to the Pakatan Rakyat led by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. Pakatan is now rated as having more than an even chance of forming the next federal government - the first regime change since Malaysia became independent from British rule in 1957.
"If I am in control of Najib, then things will be quite different," said Mahathir.
He also blamed his own anointed successor and Najib's immediate predecessor Abdullah Badawi for the BN's loss of political support during the 2008 general election.
That year, the Opposition won more than 50% of the popular vote but lost the federal government due to the extensive gerrymandering put in place by Mahathir during his rule.
"Last time when Abdullah wasn't good to me, the people did not support BN. So some people still have some sympathy for me," said Mahathir.
"I was in control for 22 years, so I have more experience. Maybe things would have been different.
So far, Kit Siang has not responded to Mahathir's latest comments but it is clear the 'grand old man' of Umno still believes he can do a much better job than Najib or Badawi.
Super Dr M back to save Malaysia?
It is also apparent that Mahathir thinks he has not lost his 'rapport' with the people, yet there are those who accuse him of being the most reviled man in the country and of leaving behind a legacy of evil, racism and corruption.
Many fear that if he were to rule Malaysia again, the country would go bankrupt even faster than the 2019 forecast timeline suggested by Najib's own ministers.
Mahathir is notorious for his mega projects and the enormous losses racked up by his administration through gambling on the world's foreign exchange and tin markets, which he knew about and encouraged.
"If you are familiar with Mahathir's language, what he is saying is that if the people feel the BN is now bereft of talented leaders, there is still him. He will save the country," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.
"Whether that frightens you or not, he has this idea that we are still in the 80s and he is the most popular man in Malaysia but that may have been because the people in those days did not dare to question him or the government. It may not be so much that they really liked him."
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