New Mahathir less dreadful than old Mahathir, says PKR lawmaker

Dr Mahathir Mohamad is less dreaded by his Pakatan Harapan colleagues now than he was by Umno in his first tenure as prime minister, Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil said today.

He said this during the 'A New Malaysia: The Way Ahead' forum at Sunway University, after being asked by the audience whether a 'new Malaysia' was really birthed after the last general election.

The audience member pointed out that although there was a new government in power for the first time in 61 years, it was led by a "recycled” prime minister being advised by the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP) that comprises “recycled” personalities who came into prominence during Mahathir’s first tenure.

In addition, the audience member said, Mahathir was again revisiting the idea of a national car project.

In his response, Fahmi said that Mahathir was now more approachable than before.

“I think he is the same but also different. I don’t feel afraid of him, like how many Umno people were afraid of him.

“I can go up to him, and of course there are now bodyguards and everything, but when he is chairing (meetings) I can just stand up and say (something). Who am I? I’m just a young 30-something, but I can say it,” he said.

Fahmi also pointed out that the 93-year old Mahathir and his aides are more active on social media than even 22-year old Batu MP P Prabakaran, the country's youngest MP.

'New Malaysia'

In addition, the PKR communications director said reporters have told him that they feel as though they have been unshackled after Harapan won the 14th general election.

Even the term 'new Malaysia', he said, was coined by the media. “So at least for the media, I know that they feel the 'new Malaysia',” he said.

Batang Sadong MP Nancy Shukri was asked a similar question on whether Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) was simply the previous Sarawak BN rebranded, to which she argued that being a separate BN-friendly coalition allowed GPS parties to be more assertive on state rights.

“When we were in BN, the boss was here (in Peninsular Malaysia). Now we are in GPS, the boss is there (in Sarawak).

“That is why they kept telling us, remember, we are friendly but firm, so we can assert our rights. We can say anything and some I’ve already said in Parliament. We do not feel that fear to address what should be ours,” she said.

Ongoing process

As Nancy explained, “it would not have looked good” to go against the BN party whip in the past.

However, this did not mean that Sarawak BN MPs had not been asserting the state’s rights before the election.

Nancy said that prior to the election, the Committee on the Malaysia Agreement 1963 that she co-chaired was already moving into its second phase of negotiations, and was in midst of discussing the quantum of funds that Sarawak should receive.

The reason lawmakers from the state were not more vocal about the issue at the time was because there was already an ongoing process to address the matter, she added. - Mkini