Mahathir's non-apology is an insult to Malaysians

I refer to a recent statement issued by Bersatu chairperson Mahathir Mohamad, who apologised for all his faults during his 22 years in power as Malaysia’s prime minister.

However, typical of Mahathir, soon after apologising for his faults, he made another U-turn by saying that he did not necessarily mean that he was admitting to any wrongdoing.

Nevertheless, Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahi, who was sacked by Mahathir, accepted his apology.

Mahathir's controversial sacking of Anwar in 1998 over corruption and sodomy charges remain a sour point among many of his supporters.

Looking at the chronology of events that happened yesterday, it is very obvious that Mahathir had apologised for all abuses of power that occurred during his time as prime minister.

Nobody will ever forget the Memali incident in 1985 where Ibrahim Libya and his followers were killed.

They were labelled as extremists who tried to spread deviationist teachings and disrupt public order. Is this true, or was Mahathir was covering up for his weaknesses?

In 1998, Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from his position. After his sacking, trumped up charges were made against Anwar and his associates, which humiliated and tarnished the image of Malaysia.

The ambitions of Anwar to be prime minister were destroyed by Mahathir, just because Anwar was at that point of time became too powerful. An innocent man was sent to prison.

Despite this, and the feeling that her family had been wronged and abused by Mahathir, Nurul Izzah accepted his apology.

Therefore it is mind boggling and exceptionally ridiculous that now Mahathir would retract his apology. Is this not an insult to all Malaysians, especially Anwar’s family?

I also call upon all the “moral guardians” of Pakatan Harapan, especially Lim Kit Siang, Guan Eng, Tony Pua and their ilk to come out and condemn Mahathir.

Why are these DAP leaders now keeping an elegant silence on this issue when they were the main ones using Mahathir as a punching bag to win votes in the two previous elections? So does this mean DAP leaders have now forgiven Mahathir for all his abuses of power during his tenure as prime minister?

Notwithstanding the above, the apology by Mahathir clearly demonstrated that he had made mistakes during his premiership and some of them were clearly against the law and criminal in nature.

Due to this, I also call upon the inspector-general of police and attorney-general to look into these two incidents – Memali and Anwar’s sacking – to see if any crimes were committed.

If Mahathir feels upset by my New Year Message to him, he is more than welcome to sue me.

I still think Mahathirism should not be allowed back into Malaysia’s society.

DAP leaders have been proven to be spineless and are now all beholden to the former prime minister as if their lives are depending on Mahathir and Bersatu winning the next election.- Mkini