Dr M: No independence if Pakatan rules

Anwar Ibrahim's request for Australia to monitor the next general election in Malaysia means the country will lose its independence, says the former premier.

SERI KEMBANGAN: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s request to Australia to observe the 13th general election is a sign that Malaysia is losing its independence, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad today.

“We have lost independence. If Pakatan [Rakyat] rules, that means there will be no independence.

“We will always have to refer to America, Australia or other powers,” the former prime minister told reporters here.

Mahathir, who remains an influential figure in Barisan Nasional, said Anwar had only one purpose in mind when he reportedly wrote to the Australian foreign minister for help in sending election monitors to Malaysia.

“There was only one goal: If [Anwar] loses, he wants to demonstrate, to say there is fraud in the election system, that the government cheated and that’s why [Barisan Nasional] won.

“That’s all. They want to create riots similar to the Arab countries so that they can bring down the government from outside the system of elections,” he said, referring to the Arab Spring.

When one reporter told Mahathir that international observers were present during the 1999 general election, the former premier said: “We did not officially invite them.”

“But if they wish to come and observe, then go ahead,” he added.

According to Bernama, Anwar had asked Senator Bob Carr to help ensure that the next general election was free of fraud and corruption.

But Mahathir stressed today that if Pakatan’s claims of electoral fraud were true, the opposition pact would not have won five states in the 2008 general election.

Anwar had also questioned the independence of the Election Commission and claimed that the opposition was being excluded from the media.

But Carr said the Malaysian elections was a matter for the Malaysian people, and rejected the proposal of Australia sending election monitors to Malaysia.

“It’s very hard for Australia to do anything about how they’re run, as hard as it would be for Malaysia or another government to have a say in how Australian elections are run.

“We’re not the election authority in Malaysia,” he had said.