Dr M: Beware of Anwar’s ‘Arab Spring’

The former premier warns that his former deputy is a master in the craft of such agitation and is willing to put the nation at risk to realise his obsession of becoming prime minister.

PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad has sounded the alarm bell over his former deputy’s threat to replicate an Arab Spring on Malaysian soil.

The former premier said the threat was a cause for concern as Anwar Ibrahim was a master in the craft of such agitations.

Exposing his disagreement with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s decision to repeal several draconian security legislation, Mahathir pointed out that it had rendered the police ineffective in curtailing subversive actions.

“The police are now quite helpless. Not only have the Internal Security Act and Public Order and Crime Prevention Ordinance [also known as the Emergency Ordinance] been abolished but the police had been told not to use force against demonstrators.

“This would be difficult as the demonstrators were capable of attacking and using force against the police. We saw this happen in previous demos,” he said.

Laws, he added, were of no significance if not enforced.

“When the police are not allowed to enforce laws, then a lawless society would be the result. The public would lose police protection and the consequence would be a loss of security for the people.

“They might have to arm themselves or organise vigilantes. This would not be good for them or for the country,” he added.

Among the incidents which tainted Mahathir’s 22 years in office was the ISA dragnet in 1987 which witnessed the mass arrest of opposition politicians and activists.

The former premier had a reputation of utilising the state apparatuses to silence dissenting voices, resulting in him being labelled a dictator and despot.

Making threats to win elections

Based on Anwar’s remarks, Mahathir said it was obvious that Anwar wanted to recreate an Arab Spring here.

“I am not an alarmist but I know Anwar’s capacity for disruptions. The moment I became minister of education in 1974, he organised a student’s demonstration claiming that starvation caused the death of a boy in Baling.

“After he joined the government there was no serious demonstration for 16 years. Once he was out of the government there were weekly demonstrations,” he added.

Mahathir claimed that Anwar’s obsession with becoming prime minister would drive the opposition leader to take to the streets regardless of the consequences.

“To him, it does not matter if the country is destabilised and regresses economically as long as he gets to be prime minister,” he added.

The former premier warned that if Anwar mounted mammoth protests on a daily basis, it would affect businesses and deter investors and tourists from coming to Malaysia.

“Malaysia had developed well because of its stability and peaceful environment. Anwar knows the damage he could cause to Malaysia’s economy with his massive demonstrations. Malaysians might be persuaded to vote for his party in order to avoid suffering economically from the demonstrations.

“It would be a sad day for Malaysia if this kind of threats are made to win elections,” he added.

‘Elections generally clean’
On Anwar’s statement that he would consider calling for street rallies in the aftermath of the polls since the elections in Malaysia were not fair, Mahathir argued that elections here were “generally clean”.

The former premier, who had been drawing flak over the issuance of identity cards to foreigners in return for votes during his tenure, added that the opposition made gains in every election.

“In the 2008 election, the opposition actually won in five states, one federal territory and prevented Barisan Nasional from getting a two-thirds majority in Parliament.

“In several instances, BN lost by less than 200 votes. Surely if BN cheated it could have easily changed the results. But there has never been real evidence of BN doing so,” he said.

“The claim that elections in Malaysia were not clean and the holding of Bersih demonstrations were obviously preparation for accusing the BN government of dirty elections should the opposition lose.

“Demonstrations to condemn the elected government would then be justified. And with the kind of demonstrations seen in Arab countries, the opposition might be able to force a new election.

“Even if the BN government refuses to hold new elections, the opposition could expect condemnation of BN throughout the world,” he added.