Remember your stick approach? Minister takes Dr M down memory lane

Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak has recalled the elections held during the tenure of former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, where voters were subjected to threats.

In a bid to refresh the nonagenarian's memory, he pointed out that perhaps Mahathir had forgotten that there are two ways to motivate a person - the carrot or the stick.

"Voters all over the world will vote according to how it will financially benefit them.

"This happens even in the advanced west such as in Europe and the United States. So if they are going to be better off financially by supporting you then they will support you," he said.

Salleh was responding to Mahathir who criticised voters in the recent twin by-elections for accepting cash, rice and electrical appliances in exchange for voting BN.

As for the former premier’s stick approach, the minister recollected how Mahathir had punished the Kelantanese when the state fell to the PAS-Semangat 46 coalition in 1990.

He said Mahathir had then cancelled the RM600 million the federal government had approved to upgrade Kelantan's water supply.

"Mahathir then said if they want the RM600 million then in the next general election they must vote BN," he added.

In the run-up to the 1999 general election, Salleh said Mahathir went on television and warned that if BN did not win two-thirds majority in the general election, then the federal government cannot guarantee the safety of Malaysians.

The former premier, he added, argued that a government with less than two-thirds majority in parliament would be a weak government and a weak government cannot protect its citizens.

"So who is Mahathir to accuse the voters of being corrupt when he used to use tactics such as threats and promises of development money to also force the voters to vote for BN?

"If you do not vote for BN you will not receive money for development and you will face the risk of riots and bloodshed.

"Now Mahathir says if you vote for BN you are a crook and corrupt. Has Mahathir forgotten what he used to say and do when he was prime minister?" he asked in his blog post. - Mkini