Mahathir draws distinction between himself and Hitler

Barely 24-hours after admitting himself to be a dictator, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad jumped to clear his name, drawing a clear distinction between himself and notorious dictators around the world.

Mahathir took credit at his willingness to step down while other dictators remained in power until they drew their last breath - from being killed or by committing suicide.

"Someone whispered to me, saying,'You are old, give chance to young people. You'd been a prime minister for 22 years. How long you still want to go?

"I responded the call and resigned. I did not want the position for myself, as though I am a dictator," Mahathir told a crowd of some 500 opposition supporters at Pandan Indah field las night.

He then asked the amused crowd whether they know of dictators who had resigned willingly as he did.

"Was it (Germany's Adolf) Hitler? He committed suicide. (Italy's Benito) Mussolini was hung, (Soviet Union's Joseph) Stalin remained (in position) until his death," he said.

Mahathir admitted on Sunday that he had been a "dictator" during his 22-year rule .

"They can do what I did. I was also a dictator before, but that is all right. People did not demonstrate like this against me before," he was reported as saying.

The former prime minister and his wife Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali appeared as surprise guests at Pakatan Harapan's "Save Malaysia Consensus" rally that was held at the Pandan Indah field in Ampang.

This immediately caused a commotion as the excited crowd wasn't happy when the journalists and photographers rushed in front to take pictures and video footage that ultimately blocked their views.

They angrily shouted and asked the photographers to leave the stage.

This is the first roadshow organised by Pakatan Harapan, which aims to bring down Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, pressure for the release of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim from prison and reform the country’s institutional systems.

'I gave way to younger leaders'

Mahathir was warmly received by the crowd during his 40-minute talk.

"I resigned to give way to younger leaders with hope that they can build the nation effectively. Unfortunately, this has not happened, especially not tonight (last night)," Mahathir said.

"Why are we here today? Because we have a problem now - the country is not well governed, the leader is more interested in leading a luxurious life.

"(They) said the money was given by the Saudis… I asked money from them to build a Islamic university, I asked from them and all their friends (and I didn’t get it).

"But they loved Najib so much that they had given him RM2.6 billion," he said to the laughter of the crowd.

"I got funds too - not much though. I put the money in an Umno trustee account. I gave the the money - RM230 million - to my successor Pak Lah (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi)," he added.

"If Najib really wanted to use the (RM2.6 billion donation) to fund the general election, why did he need to keep it in his own account ? Share it (the news) with us and make us happy, (we can) asked him for some money too.

"I didn't see that much money used throughout the elections," Mahathir added.

"That's why we assumed the money was chanelled from 1MDB… the 1MDB that was set up to buy (assets) using a RM42 billion loan."

Mahathir then challenged 1MDB chief executive Arul Kanda Kandasamy (photo) to show how the borrowed money was used.

"He said he saw the money. That was a lie. Don't bluff. The (so called) money kept in the bank was merely a record.

"Show us the money if it is in the bank. Hey, Arul, show me the money! If you have the money, I want to borrow too," he added.

The 91-year-old leader also brought up the allegation of the government once resorting to borrow from billionaire Ananda Krishnan to service the 1MDB debts.

"What kind of government that would borrow from an individual? When it cannot repay the debt, then it gets the money from us (through) the goods and services tax (GST)," Mahathir said.

Then, training his gun at Najib’s wife Rosmah Mansor, he reiterated that Rosmah used the government jet to travel, as though she was the prime minister.

"His (Najib's) beloved wife also flew all over (with him) and his love for her is so unusual that Najib took a commercial flight from Honolulu, while his wife flew on the government jet.

"The wife (acted) as though she were a prime minister," Mahathir said.

'We cannot depend on Umno'

As the authorities have failed to probe the RM2.6 billion donation that went into Najib's account, he said, the people have no other choice but to rise and oust the prime minister themselves.

"Indeed, Umno should be the one to oust Najib. But the Umno division leaders are either blind or deaf on the issues," Mahathir said, adding that this would fail any attempt to bring a vote of no confidence against Najib in Parliament.

"We cannot depend on Umno for a vote of no confidence. We need remove Najib by ourselves.

"We have to sign the declaration because we love this country. We were far better than other countries when we started off after independence.

"But, as long as Najib continues to helm the country, (we) cannot change our fate," he said.

Among the leaders present were DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, DAP acting chairperson Tan Kok Wai, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, its communications director Khalid Samad, election director Hatta Ramli, Youth deputy chief Faiz Fadzil, Sabah PKR chief Lajim Ukim and PKR strategy director Sim Tze Tzin.

Representatives from civil society included Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah and committee member Toh Kim Woon.

The group also announced a golden oldie, "Tanah Pusaka", as the theme song for the movement. -Mkini