Dr M returns fire at Najib, willing to testify at Ling's trial

Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

Although the pressure on him must be strong, feisty octagenarian Mahathir Mohamad has come out swinging in his first serious face-off with Prime Minister Najib Razak, saying he would be willing to testify if called as a witness to the trial claimed by his former transport minister Ling Liong Sik.

Such a statement must have been galling for the man who ruled Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and was responsible for much of its infrastructure development. Nevertheless, despite his enormous contribution to the nation, Mahathir has often been accused of massive corruption and cronyism.

Speculation is now rife of major tremors due to take place at Umno, the party that he and Najib belong to. Some Umno watchers believe Ling’s arrest is the first move made by Najib to curb Mahathir’s growing interference in his government.

“It is required to testify in court, a person must do it. He cannot say that I don’t want. Everyone that has to testify in court has to do so,” Mahathir told reporters on Tuesday.

Time for Mahathir to let go

Ling, who was part of Mahathir’s Cabinet for 17 years, was arrested last week for misleading the Cabinet over land valuations in the Port Klang Free Zone project.

The former MCA president has previously told the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee that he had kept the Cabinet apprised of two differing sets of valuations, and it was Mahathir who made the final decision.

Ling’s version of what happened was backed by the former secretary-general of the Transport Ministry, Zaharah Shaari.

“I don’t know if he misled me or not because I do not know if he is guilty or not. At this moment, he is only being charged. Whether he is guilty or not, it is for the court to determine,” Mahathir said, when asked if he believed Ling did indeed misled the Cabinet.

Nonetheless, pundits expect Ling to easily extricate himself from the charges as his role in the PKFZ project was not large. According to the pundits, his arrest was meant to create a shock effect and to tell Mahathir that the time had come to let Najib govern the country as he sees fit.

Indeed, already at the halfway mark to the next general election, many of the PM’s supporters worry that he may have left it a little too late. They also point to the sliding economy.

Attacking 1Malaysia, scare-mongering the Malays

Meanwhile, Mahathir has returned fire by attacking Najib’s prized 1Malaysia plan that aims to better integrate the different ethnic groups, but has been made to look wish-washy and ineffective to the non-Malays, while ultra-Malay groups patronized by Mahathir warn its implementation was a serious threat to the political power held by the Malays.


Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has also shown his hand, clearly siding Mahathir, when earlier today he agreed that 1Malaysia had failed in its goals because few Malaysians understood it.

However, Muhyiddin himself has frequently been accused to trying to sabotage 1Malaysia, which also strives to modernize the economy by removing race-based protectionism, business and educational quotas.

“There is however a tendency that the understanding is influenced by certain groups. Even though it has been explained by the prime minister that 1 Malaysia is based on the country’s constitution. Whatever the interpretation, it should not run far from the spirit of the constitution such as Bumiputera rights, Bahasa Malaysia, culture, religion and royalty,” Muhyiddin said.

“Since 1 Malaysia is dynamic and not static then certainly there will be certain groups that will try to interpret it according to their own interest. So steps must be taken by the government is to give explanation and programs to allow the public to better understand what is 1 Malaysia.”