Violence at Mahathir forum sign of more to come?

Report predicts the violence is likely to be repeated many times as GE14 nears, and quotes a political scientist as saying those perpetuating the violence have been emboldened by the lack of government action.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sunday’s violence at a forum where Dr Mahathir Mohamad spoke is an indication of what is to come as the general election draws nearer, according to a report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The episode – where flares were lit and chairs flung at the stage while Mahathir, 92, was speaking – put on display the tinderbox political atmosphere of the nation, the report said.

It quoted observers as warning that the ugly scenes could be repeated manyfold ahead of GE14 which will pit the opposition led by the former prime minister against the ruling Barisan Nasional headed by Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Ambiga Sreenevasan

Lawyer and rights campaigner Ambiga Sreenevasan told the SCMP that although there had been sporadic occurrences of political violence in recent years, “this is a new low, targeting a 92-year-old man with this level of violence”.

She added: “Those in power clearly fear the ‘Mahathir effect’ in the next elections. I do foresee political violence being added into the mix of other ongoing dirty tactics in the next general election.

“The clearest sign of our disgust will be to vote political violence out by voting the perpetrators out.”

The SCMP quoted Faisal Sham Abdol Hazis, a political scientist at University Kebangsaan Malaysia, as saying: “I don’t think the government has any intention to subdue violence. In fact, they are perceived to be using it to hold on to power.”

He said there had been “many other incidents where groups who are aligned to the ruling party acted aggressively towards pro-democracy groups and leaders”.

Faisal Sham was quoted as saying: “Since no serious action had been taken against the aggressors, such unruly behaviour now escalates into violence.”

The report noted that the opposition itself had blamed the violence at the “Nothing to Hide 2.0” forum in Shah Alam on Najib’s supporters.

It noted, too, that Najib’s supporters had hit back at these claims, saying that Umno was not behind the violence.

Mahathir was fielding questions from the 1,000-strong crowd when the chaos broke, after a few participants lit flares and started throwing chairs at the stage.

Mahathir’s spokesman told the SCMP that they would be reviewing “certain procedures’ with regards to his movements in light of the incident, and that the veteran leader would “continue with his pre-planned public programmes”.

In a Facebook video on Tuesday, Mahathir said he was unfazed by the incident. “I’m very frank, I will speak what I think is the truth [and] I don’t care about people’s reaction. The truth must be told,” he said. - FMT