Calling the PM ‘penipu’ shows lack of dignity, Dr Mahathir

Salleh Said Keruak says name calling reflects on the person doing the criticising more than on the person being criticised.

PETALING JAYA: Criticising the country’s leadership by calling the prime minister a “penipu” lacks dignity and reflects the very person who is doing the criticising, said Salleh Said Keruak in his latest blog posting.

Commenting on the “ceramah” former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad held in Ipoh on Saturday, Salleh said, “Even though we may want to criticise the leadership we need to do it with some dignity because lack of dignity reflects on the person criticising.”

During the ceramah, Mahathir had called Najib Razak a “penipu” which in English means liar, fraud or cheat, presumably over the controversy surrounding 1Malaysia Development Berhad, resulting in Opposition politicians gleefully jumping on the “Najib penipu mantra” and repeating it on their blogs and websites too.

He also observed that the ceramah this time around was “embarrassing to witness” mainly because there was lots of jeering, heckling and shouting from a boisterous and noisy crowd that came to hear Mahathir speak.

“This is not the type of gathering we would expect a statesman like Dr Mahathir to organise,” he said, adding it was more like those the Opposition tended to organise in villages.

Salleh also took note of Mahathir’s controlling nature, commenting how the former leader was used to calling the shots as to who would lead the country, something he himself admitted to when speaking to the people.

“Dr Mahathir also admitted that he had forced Pak Lah to take Najib as his deputy and later forced Pak Lah to resign to make way for Najib.

Now Dr Mahathir wants Najib to resign to make way for Muhyiddin Yassin,” Salleh said, adding Mahathir stopped short however from saying who the new deputy prime minister would be should Najib eventually step down.

“Whoever it may be, what Dr Mahathir wants is that the Prime Minister has to be someone of his choosing, handpicked by him, and someone who will listen to his instructions.”

Salleh also commented that Mahathir had resorted to “personal” attacks on the former leadership, even touching on Badawi’s medical condition, and implying by his tone that this jab by Mahathir was uncalled for.