MAHATHIR SHIFTS THE ATTACKS TO TUN RAZAK

In short, Mahathir is a barefaced liar and unless he can prove what he said then, as the Wall Street Journal is so fond of saying, I stand by what I said. The onus is now on Mahathir to prove that he did not lie. I need do nothing other than call Mahathir a liar unless proven otherwise.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Finally, what we have been waiting for (because we knew it was going to happen sooner or later) has happened. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, after failing to bring down Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in the six months he had expected he could, has shifted his attacks to Najib’s father, Tun Razak Hussein.

“Once, I was in a meeting in Pekan, Pahang and Najib went up on stage and said he was not like his father, he viewed his father as useless,” said Mahathir.

Mahathir, too, is not like his father, and neither am I. Mahathir’s father was a schoolteacher. Mahathir became a doctor and then a politician. My father was a barrister by qualifications and when he wanted to send me to England to also do law I refused. I wanted to become a motorcycle racer instead.

So tell me, how many of us are just like their fathers, other than Najib who also became a Prime Minister just like his father, but which Mukhriz has thus far failed to emulate? Even Mukhriz is not like his father seeing as how he failed to win all the post he contested other than posts that were served to him on a silver platter.

I bet if Mahathir was asked to defend this statement in court he would not be able to. And this is not only because whenever Mahathir testifies in court he always uses the excuse that he forgot. It is because this never happened so it is impossible to prove or defend something that never happened.

If you know Najib personally then you will know he would never say that his father was useless. In fact, no Malay or Muslim would ever say that his or her late father or late mother was useless. It is not in the Malay psyche to speak ill of the deceased, especially if the deceased are your own parents. Malays-Muslims believe that heaven lies beneath the feet of their mother.

I remember back in 1989 when Anwar Ibrahim spoke in an Umno gathering in the Kuala Terengganu town hall and he whacked Tunku Abdul Rahman. The Terengganu people are ultra-religious while the Tunku is known to have gambled, drank liquor, had a Mat Salleh girlfriend when he was in England (even though he already had a wife in Malaysia), etc. In fact, Genting exists because of the Tunku, as do the many turf clubs.

However, the Umno audience was very angry with Anwar and some even walked out of the hall in protest (even though the Tunku was with Semangat 46 and was anti-Umno at that time). After that Anwar was advised to never again attack the Tunku, who was still alive at that time (he died a year later). What more if you attack the Tunku or Tun Razak who are already dead. And even worse if you are one of the Tunku’s or Tun Razak’s children. You will be crucified.

Mahathir’s attack on Najib by alleging that Najib had called his late father ‘useless’ demonstrates how desperate the old man has become. He thought Najib would be history in six months but it is now 18 months and Najib is still very firmly planted in his seat in Putrajaya. And it does not look like Najib is going any time soon.

Mahathir launched Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, all the way to Plan X, but all failed. Instead, his boboi Mukhriz plus his kuda Muhyiddin are probably going to be sacked from Umno at the next Umno supreme council meeting after the Sarawak state election. And Mahathir knows he can’t stop that from happening because Nazri Aziz is going to personally make sure that it happens.

This latest attack on the late Tun Razak is going to backfire badly. Mahathir can give the excuse that it was not he who said Tun Razak was useless and that he is merely repeating what Najib said.

Everyone knows that Najib would never say this and that he, in fact, has the highest respect and utmost regards for his late father, as do all the other Tun Razak children as well. There is nothing that Najib has done or said these last few years to demonstrate otherwise.

In short, Mahathir is a barefaced liar and unless he can prove what he said then, as the Wall Street Journal is so fond of saying, I stand by what I said. The onus is now on Mahathir to prove that he did not lie. I need do nothing other than call Mahathir a liar unless proven otherwise.