Malaysian leaders have been reminded not to look down on the public’s capability to topple a corrupt government as what had happened in the Middle East during the Arab spring, warned Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pic).
In his latest blog posting today, the country’s longest serving prime minister said that monarchs and dictators in the Middle East had been toppled through violence.
He said in its history, Malaysia had eschewed violence as a means to replace the government, preferring instead to use the ballot box to effect a regime change.
“However, leaders should not be too confident that people would continue with the soft approach,” he warned in his popular blog Chedet.cc.
Dr Mahathir reminded current leaders to be open to criticism and to deal with it.
He admitted that during his time as prime minister, he hardly listened to opposing views, especially from the opposition and noted that it was the opposition’s nature to go against the government.
“However, I find the views aired by third parties were more genuine and worth serious consideration,” he said.
He said there are not many people wanting to advise the authorities for fear of being scolded or being viewed negatively.
Dr Mahathir said it was important for people to be bold and give advice to the country's leaders if they did not perform.
Dr Mahathir warned that power can lead to corruption and absolute power will result in unfettered corruption.
“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” he said quoting a well-known English proverb.
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