MAHATHIR, ET TU BRUTE?

With so much history of continued loyalty by Datuk Seri Najib Razak (left) and his family, it is truly sad that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (right) has now turned against his long-term unwavering supporter, says the letter writer.

Khairul Mohamad, The Rakyat Post

WHILE history may look kindly at how former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad led Malaysia over 22 years from the backwaters of Asia to be a major Tiger economy, all these achievements may now be wiped out by his traitorous betrayal of someone who had been a staunch ally all those years.

By lashing out against current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has become like Marcus Brutus who turned against Julius Caesar — whose supposed last words were immortalised in the William Shakespeare play: “Et tu Brute?” (“And you, too, Brutus?”)

As was noted in the piece published at blogsite TV14 (www.tv14.my/2015/04/06/kalau-tiada-najib-mahathir-mungkin-6-tahun-sahaja-jadi-pm), Mahathir may not have been PM for more than six years if not for Najib’s support back in 1987.

Challenged for presidency at Umno, the main party in the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, Mahathir barely managed to hold on to his presidency and fend off Tengku Razaleigh Tengku Mohd Hamzah — winning by a bare 43 votes as party delegates were split 761-to-718 in his favour on April 24, 1987.

Those critical tipping votes came thanks to Najib, who was then acting head of Pemuda Umno, says the TV14 writer, quoting informed sources.

Appointed by previous Prime Minister Tun Hussein Datuk Onn in 1976 as Deputy Energy, Telecommunications and Posts Minister, Najib was a staunch Mahathir supporter — a fact acknowledged when appointed Pahang Menteri Besar in 1982, a year after Mahathir became PM.

Najib later joined the Cabinet as Culture, Youth and Sports Minister in 1986 and held various other portfolios like Defence and Education throughout Mahathir’s years as PM.

Never in that time did Najib ever challenge Mahathir or seek to be overly ambitious like now-jailed Opposition stalwart Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim — who was Mahathir’s Deputy Prime Minister before being sacked.

Najib continued his loyalty, even within Umno, by waiting patiently and it was Mahathir’s successor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who was to elevate Najib to be Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) in 2004 — months after Mahathir stepped down.

The unstinting support Najib had for Mahathir can also be traced back to his father, former Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein — who welcomed Mahathir back into Umno in 1972 despite him being sacked by Malaysia’s first PM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra just three years earlier.

Razak also fast-tracked Mahathir’s elevation in Umno and made him Education Minister in 1974, a rapid rise that continued when the late Razak’s successor, Hussein, made Mahathir DPM in 1976.

With so much history of continued loyalty by Najib and his family, it is truly sad that Mahathir has now turned against his long-term unwavering supporter.

But unlike the Roman traitor Brutus, whose change of heart Shakespeare attributed to his passion for one of the ancient world’s most alluring women, Cleopatra, what’s driving Mahathir to turning traitor now as he draws closer to his 90th birthday?