Special Affairs Department (Jasa) director-general Puad Zarkashi is puzzled. And the reason for this is Dr Mahathir Mohamad being named as Pakatan Harapan's choice for prime minister.
According to an Utusan Online report, the Umno supreme council member said he cannot understand how Harapan leaders could throw their weight behind a nonagenarian with health concerns.
“The allegation by former DAP vice-chairperson Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim that Mahathir was hospitalised at the National Heart Institute (IJN) 47 times in 39 months is bound to raise doubts about his ability to become the seventh prime minister.
“I am puzzled how DAP's Lim Kit Siang and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail agreed to choose Mahathir after knowing about his health condition,” he added.
Since he was announced as Harapan's choice for prime minister, detractors had focussed on Mahathir's age.
The former premier, who stepped down in 2003 after more than two decades in power, would turn 93 this year.
Recently, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak cautioned Malaysians against placing the future of the nation in the hands of a 93-year-old man.
Mahathir, on the other hand, has dispelled the notion that he is too old to helm the nation again and his team often posts videos of him driving and engaging in other activities.
Anwar and Mat Sabu – from critics to cheerleaders
Meanwhile, the Umno-owned Utusan Online, in its “Menjelang PRU-14” section, also published another two articles related to Mahathir.
One was an analysis which noted how Anwar Ibrahim and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu, better known as Mat Sabu, went from staunch critics to cheerleaders of Mahathir.
The article recalled Mat Sabu's famous quote when Anwar, who was then heading the Malaysian Muslim Youth Organisation (Abim), chose to join Umno instead of PAS.
“When Anwar was embroiled in a crisis with his former mentor (Mahathir), Mat Sabu did not miss the opportunity to remind former deputy premier's (Anwar) supporters about his famous strong words.
“Those who followed the political developments of the 90s cannot forget this quote (from Mat Sabu) - 'Aku dah kata, kalau nak cuci tong 'taik', bukan cuci dari dalam, kena cuci dariluar (If you want to clean a sewage tank, you can't do it from the inside, you have to clean it from the outside',” read the article.
Mat Sabu was a former PAS deputy-president before becoming the head of the splinter party Amanah, which was formed in the aftermath of the Islamist party's exit from Harapan's predecessor Pakatan Rakyat.
The third article in Utusan Online focussed on the “DAP-led” Harapan's pledge to abolish the East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) if it comes to power.
The article, titled “Apa dosa orang Kelantan, Terengganu kepada Mahathir? (What sins have the people of Kelantan, Terengganu committed towards Mahathir)”, quoted Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) economics, finance and banking lecturer Prof Amir Husin.
According to the academic, Mahathir's claim that the project would not benefit the public is not rational and showed that Harapan wanted the Malays in the east coast to remain locked in the same economic state. -Mkini
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