A lie told often enough becomes the truth said Lenin, Russian communist politician and revolutionary (1870 - 1924).
In any democratic nation, no party lasts more than one or two terms. Voters will choose the party wisely and if the successor fails, then the same voters will toss the party out. This is fair.
Deep-rooted vengeance
In the US, the Republican and Democratic parties have controlled the White House for long but often alternatively and the country’s business goes on as usual with no violence and no destruction to the nation.
Only the government changes and the changes are done respectably with the incoming president always sending off his predecessor with deference. This is what true democracy is.
The people hear no violence, threats or personal scoffs thrown at each other. When George Bush took over as president of US (2001 to 2009) he did not resort to cheap political thrills to describe Bill Clinton, his predecessor, with terms like “hoodwinked by your show of innocence”.
Neither did Clinton say to Bush that “the country will be destroyed if the Republicans were to lead”.
Personal issues detrimental to the wellbeing of any society – if there is any truth to it – should best be decided by the court. Mahathir Mohamad has no right to resort to personal attacks on Anwar Ibrahim – the Opposition leader who was his close political buddy at one time – without any evidence that is legally binding.
It’s always stroppy to rely on Mahathir after reading what he has written in his 843-paged memoirs, A Doctor in the House (2011), as in the book are filled with many “fictitious” narrations about his political nemeses that have insulted the intelligence of many critics.
He can lie to some people some of the time but not to all the people all the time. It’s his deep-rooted vengeance against all his foes that has made Mahathir become a political recalcitrance.
Fossilised trait in him
Mahathir had been harsh to many past leaders including the first prime minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, the third prime minister Hussein Onn, his first deputy, Musa Hitam, when he became prime minister in 1981, his second deputy Ghafar Baba, his third deputy Anwar and his successor Abdullah Badawi (the fifth prime minister of the country).
And even the one-time judicial lord president of the country Salleh Abas and a few other prominent judges at the time were not spared.
During his tenure as prime minister he was known to be at loggerheads with many UMNO stalwarts including Shahrir Samad, Daim Zainuddin and Tunku Razaleigh Hamzah. He never had nice words for Razaleigh in his memoirs despite the latter’s vast contributions to the nation. He even meanderingly hinted in his memoirs that Daim was corrupt.
It cannot be that too many people are wrong and Mahathir is the only one who has always been right. Mahathir has a strong character indeed and seemingly, according to some critics, he must be facing some psychological disorder. Anyway, this fossilised trait in him will never change.
The people in both the political divide have actually ignored his persistent gibbering and nattering. But, unfortunately, the medical world has yet to find a therapy for post-prime ministerial syndrome that most ex- leaders are facing.
Najib is a weak leader
Mahathir knows that Najib Razak is a weak leader. He is at all-time cagy that Najib and UMNO are going to “sink”. He must be cognisant that Barisan has lost hope in the next general election. But Mahathir’s biggest mistake now is that he is not looking into the weaknesses of Najib, UMNO and Barisan.
Instead of “fixing” UMNO and Barisan, he is yelping at Anwar and the Opposition.
If UMNO is so endearing to Mahathir it would be apposite for him to correct the wrongdoings of the party and its leaders. There are many on the fence who will not vote UMNO or Barisan just because they hate the party leaders and not that they love the Opposition more.
But then according to political observers, Mahathir has a hidden agenda. He is wary that his unpopularity now is further tarnishing UMNO’s image. He is also aware of Najib’s weaknesses but he has to remain silent, as he has an ambition to push his son, Mukhriz, up the UMNO ladder.
When his goal is well-secured, Najib will certainly become another victim like what happened to Abdullah Badawi – his own pick for prime ministership and successor who he eventually clobbered.
Mahathir with his Indian DNA is no match to many UMNO politicians who have more Malay DNA in them. The real Malays are generally humble people, too accommodating and with some inferiority complex in them.
Ultimately, it looks like Mahathir will triumph within UMNO. However, it would be too late for him as the Opposition by then would have a better political edge over Barisan.
There is high probability that Barisan will lose the next general election and the new and revamped UMNO will then see many new young leaders holding the political bridles. This is when Mukhriz Mahathir will be roped in to lead new UMNO with Mahathir’s blessings.
The Opposition is not all about Anwar
Mahathir ill-advisedly is not happy that the country now has a viable two party system that augurs well for the country. If he still believes in political monopoly then he must be behind time.
Mahathir has also failed to grasp the fact that the Opposition is not all about Anwar. The Opposition is now fully-fledged to become a viable alternative to Barisan. In the Opposition there are many talented young leaders with honour and integrity who are ready to take over the leadership of Pakatan.
Moreover, Anwar is now 65 and he may not want to stay long in politics. Nevertheless, what he has done for the country must be appreciated by the people. He has brought to the people a much desired two-party system that has broken Barisan’s monopoly of power of about five decades.
It is with this strong two-party system that there is a better check-and-balance in the governance of the country. The 2008 general election was the budding stage for a strong Opposition and the next election will see the final entrenchment of a new coalition in the history of Malaysian politics.
It is this fear that makes Mahathir vehemently attack charismatic Anwar and not that the latter is embroiled in any “immoral” activities.
They will resort to sex
Malaysian politics is known to be spiced with sex, race, religion and alleged corruptions. The ways politicians attack their nemeses are usually based on either one or two of these elements. If corruption cannot be used to debase a political opponent they will resort to sex, race or religion.
It goes without saying that sex has always been used by some immoral UMNO politicians and their henchmen to tarnish the image of the Opposition. The mainstream media will be the complicit to this modus operandi.
But this is not only peculiar to Malaysia. This has happened in other Asian countries, Europe, the Middle-East and some African countries. Politicians have been alleged to have cooked up spicy sex stories, books and videos to bring down their opponents.
They will endlessly smear their political foes using their controlled-media until all the lies are ingested to be perceived to be the” truth” by the illiterate masses.
Mahathir being a Machiavellian has adopted this mode to denounce Anwar. His mode in settling of scores in politics using unscrupulous means is just bottomless and given a choice he would never want to see Anwar helm the country, as this would put him into intolerable shame in the eyes of the people.
Fortunately Malaysians today are aware of this sleazy tactic by Mahathir and UMNO. After all Mahathir has never been a perfectionist throughout his career as a politician. It was during his tenure (1981 – 2003) that the country saw unbridled corruption and abuse of power.
The culture of corruption went bare during his leadership.
He was supposed to lead the Malays and all Malaysians to establish a “united nation” but he ended up disappointing them all. He failed to change the mindset of the Malays where the majority of them and the Orang Asal are still languishing in poverty. Majority of Indians and about 20 percent of Chinese are also languishing in poverty.
He had failed to unite the people through his “Bangsa Malaysia” theme just because of his hypocrisy and divide-and-rule policy.
Cannot be right all the time
His purportedly extravagant spending of Petronas dollars on many “white-elephant” projects for the country, bailing out of cronies and banks were well-noted by his critics. The education system went awry because of the poor execution of policies and the osmosis of harsh religious tenors into national schools that were supposed to unite the people. The perception of the judiciary at the time was that it was snooped by those in power.
Despite his long service as Prime Minister, Sabah, Sarawak, Kedah, Perlis, Terengganu, Perlis were left to languish as among the poorest states in the country. Mahathir cannot be right all the time but the problem is he wants to appear as always right.
Mahathir should have peeped into UMNO and Barisan before making unsubstantiated accusations against the Opposition leader.
A leader of a Barisan component party is well accepted by UMNO even when it was video-proven that he was engaged in an extra-marital sex. The video was widely circulated in the country and is also found in the YouTube for all and sundry to watch.
Despite the substantiated evidence on “abnormal” sex as evidenced in the video no action has been taken against the leader involved. Perhaps, UMNO feels no shame about this.
Recently, a senior UMNO man was alleged to have spent a fortune to date a local actress when the driver to the woman spilled the beans. But UMNO went on a mute mode on this alleged affair and the huge amount of money spent by the politician to sustain the relationship.
The Mongolian lady, Shaariibuugiin Altantuyaa was gruesomely murdered in this country in 2006. Until today the people have not been told the motive for the murder. It’s still a mystery that her record of entry into the country could not be traced after she died.
It would be wise if Mahathir could comment on all this plus the alleged corruption and abuse of power that have tainted the image of UMNO and Barisan.
Debate on vital issues
In most developed nations, leaders dare debate on vital issues relating to fundamental social, economic and foreign policies for the benefit of the people rather than wasting their time smearing political opponents using sex, race and religious gambits.
Instead of badmouthing Anwar and the Opposition with puerile allusions Mahathir should call upon Najib to debate on vital issues facing the nation with Anwar. Why say it’s not Malaysian culture to debate when comparisons are often made by UMNO leaders between Malaysian and the developed countries?
Why not allow the voters to judge for themselves which coalition could give the people a better deal in the next five years after the 13th general election? Mahathir and UMNO must have respect for democracy.
A one-party system for the country will only make one party controlling and a select few politicians retaining power, leading to arrogance and abuse of power. Good or bad, the monopoly of power will more often than not turn leaders into dictators.
Anwar is the de facto Opposition leader but Mahathir should bear in mind that the Opposition is not all about Anwar. What is more important to the people now is the establishment of a two-party system in the country and a strong alternative to Barisan.
No doubt credit has to be given to Anwar for his fortitude to make a two-party system a reality in Malaysia. But the batons of power in the Opposition will one day be passed to the so many capable young leaders within the Opposition.
These are the leaders who would face Mukhriz Mahathir and his contemporaries in Malaysia’s future political landscape.
An “armchair gumshoe”
Mahathir is trying to be too personal when attacking Anwar. His scathing attack on his arch enemy Anwar by stating that he had been "hoodwinked" by the latter’s "religious appearance" is Machiavellian and unwarranted. Why the issue on Anwar’s “religious appearance”.
Religion is a matter between an individual and his Creator. Awkwardly, Mahathir was only an “armchair gumshoe” when he first started his personal allegations against Anwar.
His judgement has been based on hearsay and news fed to him by those who envied Anwar for the latter’s quick ascension in UMNO. Mahathir’s personal attack on Anwar thus lacks credibility, as according to critics it has been much swayed by his hatred feelings for Anwar.
If truth be told, their relationship turned sour when Anwar wanted to replace the “mentor” as UMNO president in the late 90’s and this infuriated the latter intolerably.
Mahathir is again playing Machiavellian politics to influence the illiterate masses. It is discernible that he only wants one party – Barisan – to retain power in Malaysia at all times. This only reflects on his deportment as an authoritarian dictator. It reflects on his misaligned attitude towards power and his lack of decorum for democracy.
Why is he now urging Malaysians to “vote the Devil”? He knows well that “the Devil” (Barisan) has outlived its relevance in Malaysian politics after five decades in power. His present stance is enviably for his own political schema. He has an agenda to establish a dynasty of his own in UMNO politics.
Mahathir does not have to worry about the credentials of the Opposition as the four states under Pakatan have shown to all Malaysians that they can outdo Barisan in governance. With or without Anwar the Opposition will flourish. Let the people be the ultimate judge, not the sour grapes.
The “Angel” they know
The problem is that the “Devil” that the people are acquainted with today is corrupt to the core. And that the “Angel” they know is obviously doing well in the four states under its rule. Thus there is nothing immoral in giving the opportunity to the “Angel” this time to make rapid economic and social headway for the nation.
Pakatan does not have to copy US president Barrack Obama's presidential campaign in 2008 with his promise of “change”. Pakatan has undeniably brought a lot of changes to the four states under their governance much to the envy of Mahathir and UMNO. This is testimony to Pakatan’s credibility as a better alternative to Barisan.
Anwar has no choice but to resort to defamation suits as the mainstream media has never been kind to him. The mainstream media has been defaming Anwar almost every single day with the blessings of UMNO for the past 14 years.
They have ceaselessly attacked and smeared his name and indirectly shamed his family members without giving the slightest chance for him to rebut. Anwar is not abusing the little powers he has as an ordinary citizen but is only resorting to justice through the court of law, when UMNO-owned mainstream media has denied him fair play in politics.
The people are peeved off by Mahathir’s inexorable comments and attacks on Anwar and the Opposition. This has triggered more hatred for UMNO and Barisan among the people.
Mahathir has no choice now but apologise for his politically charged remarks on Anwar and the Opposition.
Malaysia Chronicle
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