Tun Dr. Mahathir on Prime Minster Najib Razak and the NSC

COMMENT: It is tragic to see Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad attempting to undo what he began when he was in power for 22 odd years. But I agree with him that it is a dangerous to grant absolute power to Prime Minister Najib Razak.

History is littered with examples of what can happen to a country run by autocrats and dictators. We have seen that in Cambodia (Pol Pot), Congo (Mobutu), the Philippines (Marcos), Indonesia (Suharto), Egpyt (Murbarak), Tunisia (Ben Ali), Iraq (Saddam Hussein), Libya (Qaddafi), Syria (Bashir Al-Assad), and Zimbabwe (Mugabe), just to name a few.

To safeguard our democracy, our founding fathers enacted the Malaysian Constitution (in 1963 and before that the Malayan Constitution in 1957) which created a system of checks and balances with clear separation of powers and guaranteed our rights to free speech and freedom of expression and assembly. But over the years, the Constitution has been amended to create all-powerful Executive Branch at the expense of Parliament (Legislature) and Judiciary. The recent passing of the NSC bill by Parliament is just an extension of the systematic destruction of the Rule of Law. We have become a nation ruled by Law.

It is too late for Tun Dr. Mahathir to cry over split milk. But it is never too late for us as Malaysians to petition DYMM Yang Di-Pertuan Agong to deny Royal Assent, although under the present system the Bill will become the Law any way. As a last resort, the Malaysian Bar Council acting on our behalf can go to our Federal Court to declare it unconstitutional. The Najib administration has not provided irrefutable grounds to show that we require this law under present circumstances.There should have been a White Paper tabled in Parliament to accompany the Bill.

We all know that the creation of the NSC  is intended to  keep Prime Minister Najib Razak in power against the wishes of a majority of law-abiding Malaysians. We now have a choice between democracy with constitutional monarchy, and a banana republic led by Prime Minister Najib Razak and his UMNO kleptocrats.–Din Merican

Tun Dr. Mahathir on Najib Razak and the NSC

by The Malaysian Insider

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/with-absolute-power-najib-can-sell-off-country-says-dr-mahathir

Power corrupts. absolute powers corrupts absolutely (Lord Acton)

Transferring absolute power to Dato’ Seri Najib Razak through the National Security Council Bill will lead to the country being “sold off”, says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

In a review of the security law passed in Parliament on Thursday, Dr Mahathir said the Prime Minister would be able to arrest anyone, with the power to declare emergency passed from the king to him.

“Now, the King’s power has been transferred to him (Najib). He can now declare emergency and anyone deemed dangerous can be arrested,” he said today during a forum in Senawang, Negri Sembilan.

The former Prime Minister also said the country could face risks, with its future under threat, if absolute power was given to the Prime Minister or Ruler.

“If total power is given to a certain person, and that person isunder pressure, surely it will be easy for that person to surrender his power to those pressuring him.That is the price if we give a certain person absolute power. If (you) give full power to the Prime Minister or the King, they can sell off the country,” he said.

Mahathir said history also proved this during the colonisation era, when rulers with absolute power easily gave away their power to others.

“I start with the colonisation period in our country. We were Tanah Melayu, a monarchy, where the sultans in the states had absolute power.With that absolute power, they were pressed, and in the end, the nation was given to the British. Before that, it was the Siamese. Then we were also colonised by the Japanese, before the British came back,” he said.

According to Dr Mahathir, the power in the security law would allow Najib to declare a state of emergency as he pleased.

“With that power, he can declare an emergency whenever he thinks there is a security risk.Whoever is seen to be sabotaging the country can be arrested. And not only from the opposition,” he said, in an apparent reference to Dato Khairuddin Abu Hassan and his lawyer Matthias Chang, who have criticised Najib’s handling of 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

Dr Mahathir said Najib’s move could spell trouble for U’MNO especially if they lost the next general election, and it was possible that many might end up in prison.

“He forgets that if he loses in the general election, the opposition will become the government. They will nab everyone,” he said to cheers from a 200-strong crowd in the hall.

Dr Mahathir said Najib was safe as long as he was in power. But if he lost, misfortune would not only befall him but other UMNO leaders as well.