Zahid dredges up Memali incident, says Mahathir a liar

Deputy Prime Minister says 'that person' was in Malaysia at the time but made his deputy take the blame for the loss of 18 lives in Kampung Memali.

BALING: Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is not backing down in his fight against Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and today launched another broadside by dredging up the Memali incident.

Speaking in Baling, Kedah – the constituency where the Memali incident occurred 12 years ago – Zahid said Mahathir – whom he referred to as “that person” – had lied about his whereabouts at the time.

“Apparently he was in China because he wanted to avoid a backlash from the people of Baling, from PAS,” Zahid told delegates at the Baling Umno division meeting.

The Memali incident refers to a clash between police and villagers of Kampung Memali in 1985 when the cops sought to arrest Ibrahim “Libya” Mahmood, a PAS leader suspected of heading a “deviant” sect.

Fourteen villagers, including Ibrahim, and four officers died in the fighting.

Zahid said Mahathir, who was prime minister at the time, had tried to shift responsibility for the incident on to his deputy.

He cited Musa Hitam’s biography in which the former deputy prime minister said Mahathir was in the country when the Memali incident occurred.

“That person (Mahathir) was in Malaysia, but put the blame on Musa, and Musa was made a scapegoat by that person,” Zahid said.

Mahathir had in 2014, admitted to being in Malaysia when the police clashed with the Kampung Memali villagers.

However, he insisted that any responsibility should fall on Musa, who was acting prime minister at the time as well as the home minister in charge of police.

Zahid said Mahathir had a tendency to twist facts, which made him a liar. - Mkini