IN ALL OUT ROYAL BRAWL TO DESTROY MAHATHIR’S NAME, S’GOR SULTAN TARNISHES HIS OWN, RAISES QUESTIONS AS TO HIS MOTIVE – ‘DR M THINKS HIS 22 YEARS WERE SO BIG… HE HAS INFERIORITY COMPLEX’

THE Selangor sultan has hit out at Dr Mahathir Mohamad, accusing the former prime minister of suffering from an inferiority complex and being ungrateful to his former party, Umno.

In an interview with The Sunday Star to mark his 72^nd birthday tomorrow, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said Dr Mahathir was in power for 22 years, not through his own effort, but that of Umno’s.

“To build up a good name is very difficult, to destroy is too easy. Mahathir was there for 22 years, it was not by his own effort. The party put him there and now he wants to destroy the party.

“He thought his 22 years were so big. He does not want any other prime minister to do better than him and tries to push them down. That’s why I say he has an inferiority complex,” he was quoted as saying.

The sultan said all nine rulers feel the same way about the former prime minister since his return to active politics, where he is now the chairman of the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan.

In October, Dr Mahathir also drew the ire of the Selangor court when he insulted Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ancestors, calling them “Bugis pirates”.

The Selangor royal family are also Bugis descendants. The sultan told the Star that he waited nearly three weeks before responding to Dr Mahathir’s remark.

“I was on my way to perform the umrah when I got to know about the remarks.

“I did not want to react blindly. I waited until I returned and spoke to different people who were there and who knew what actually happened. I only spoke after that,”  he was quoted as saying.

The Selangor Royal Council urged the police to investigate Dr Mahathir under the Sedition Act for allegedly inciting hatred towards those of Bugis ancestry.

On October 14, Dr Mahathir called Najib’s ancestors “Bugis pirates” at the “Love Malaysia, end kleptocracy” rally in Petaling Jaya.

The remark angered many Bugis who demanded an apology.

An Indonesian Bugis association also demanded an apology or it would stage a protest outside the Malaysian embassy in Jakarta.

Indonesian Vice-President Jusuf Kalla said the remark was not only insulting to the Bugis community in Malaysia but also those in Indonesia.

Police opened two investigation papers into the Pkatan Harapan chairman over the derogatory remarks.

However, Dr Mahathir reiterated that he did not insult the Bugis but had only targeted Najib, whom he accuses of stealing from the public coffers.

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/