Dr M and past rivals come full circle at Kamunting ceramah

Former prime minister and Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad took his ceramah campaign against the BN government to Kamunting last night.

Accompanying him were top Harapan leaders and activists, who peppered their speeches with jokes about the now defunct Internal Security Act 1960 (ISA).

Kamunting, a town north of Taiping, is best known for its detention centre for offenders of the ISA, which allowed for detention without trial.

Mahathir, during his time as prime minister, was accused of using ISA against his political opponents to consolidate power.

Several of the speakers at the ceramah, namely DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu and social activist Hishammuddin Rais had spent time at the Kamunting detention centre during Mahathir’s administration.

Putting past behind

However, looking past old rivalries, Mahathir's new allies unanimously declared him as their prime ministerial candidate to the thousands who attended the ceramah.

"Does Mahathir wants to ride on executive jets? Does Mahathir want to walk on red carpets and dine at palaces across the world?

"He has already experienced that, but Mahathir wants to return as prime minister to correct the current government's wrongs," said Lim.

He said if Harapan wins the general election, the coalition would return to the Mahathir era’s policy where there was no GST.

"We not only want to rid of BN, but also the GST," he declared.

PKR president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in her speech related her husband Anwar Ibrahim’s detention in Kamunting.

"The ISA in the past could have been misused. He told me that the people in the next door cell were not only (Former PKR deputy president) Syed Husin Ali, but also a Chinese man.

"The man worked at a Chinese restaurant whose boss was a communist, but he wasn't one. It was a reflection of the injustice," she said.

However Wan Azizah, who introduced Mahathir as the Harapan’s prime minister candidate, said Anwar was not a vengeful person.

"Our struggle is not for positions, but for the future of this country," she said.

Dr M: 22 years enough

Hishammuddin, who represented Bersih, joked about his familiarity with Kamunting, having been detained there for over two years.

"Kamunting folks, I will never forget Kamunting. Kamunting is my hometown too," joked the Negeri Sembilan native.

Hishammuddin raised Bersih’s concerns about advanced voting, and warned that cheating could skew the election results.

Taking the stage later, Mahathir said he was seeking to return as prime minister at 93 years of age not out of a desire for power, but out of necessity.

"I have been prime minister for 22 years. It is not my intent to become prime minister again. 22 years has been enough," he said.

Mahathir said he had joined forces with his former rivals in the face of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak allegedly ruining the country.

"That is why we have set aside out differences to join forces and form Pakatan Harapan.

"Only then can we can unite the people's strength to oust Najib," he said. - Mkini