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| Exit of a self-made dictator
To him natural justice and social justice are strange notions.
by K George Aliran Monthly 2003:10 Please support our work by buying a copy of our print publication, Aliran Monthly, from your nearest news-stand. Better still take out a subscription now. We also welcome donations.
Was all this hullabaloo spontaneous? I wonder! Many people do know that Mahathir is capable of changing his mind at the last minute. So, it cannot be ruled out that there was some hidden agenda to ensure he did keep his word this time round. Although there were persistent attempts to portray him as �the� absolute statesman, I wish to recall some of his antics. Those who followed Mahathir�s style of premiership have no doubt that he is obsessed with power, fame, prestige, luxury and wealth. He is also seen as ruthless. His interpretation of rule of law is Rule by Law. To him natural justice and social justice are strange notions. Human rights and democracy, in his opinion, impede progress and prosperity. If and when necessary, he could stretch the truth and break promises. Initial actions as PM Immediately after Mahathir was sworn in as the fourth Prime Minister, he ordered the release of 22 ISA detainees. He introduced the slogan � "Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah" ("Clean, Efficient and Trustworthy") � as a guideline for the civil service. The wearing of name tags and punching in and out became compulsory even for the ministers. At a press conference, the new PM declared he would eradicate corruption. Should he fail, he would bring the fear of God. Many people became so excited that they thought the 4th PM was Godsent! When I discussed my impressions about the PM with the first Aliran president, his reply was : Don�t believe him (Mahathir). He is a hypocrite. Did not later events confirm this prediction? Since then, for over two decades we had been facing shock after shock. The Musa episode The first shock was for his predecessor. When Tun Hussein Onn appointed Mahathir - the third Vice President of UMNO - as DPM there was reportedly an agreement between them: when Mahathir becomes the next PM, he would appoint Tengku Razaleigh as his DPM. However Mahathir appointed Tan Sri Musa Hitam instead. They both had a pleasant �honeymoon� for some time. Then differences started. But by 1986, Musa became so distressed that he could not carry on. His resignation was hand-written on a piece of paper. The reason he he gave was �irreconciliable differences�. Mahathir and the judiciary
Disgusted, the Lord President, Tun Salleh Abas addressed a letter to the Agung requesting him to intervene. That letter was drafted at a meeting of a number of judges at which Justice Hamid Omar was also present. Mahathir managed to persuade the Agung to set up a tribunal. It is now history that Justice Hamid Omar ( who was not only junior to Salleh Abas, but had earlier agreed to the letter to the Agung) chaired the tribunal which decided to dismiss Salleh Abas and two other senior judges as well. The principles of Rule of Law and Natural Justice were thrown to the wind in 1988. UMNO election in 1997 After Mahathir became the PM, UMNO started having two camps - Team A and Team B. In 1987, Tengku Razaleigh contested for the UMNO president�s post against Mahathir, who won by 43 votes. That is known to all of us. But how Mahathir won that election is not known to many people. The story goes as follows: The night before the election, a few of Mahathir�s supporters made a survey. They even penetrated the Team B camp. By mid-night, they were convinced Mahathir would lose by 10 per cent of the votes. They met Anwar Ibrahim who had already won the post of UMNO Youth chairmanship. They suggested Anwar join Team B which he rejected outright. But Anwar was prepared to surrender his Youth chairmanship to Najib, on condition he agreed to offer to Mahathir the 43 votes he was controlling. The deal was acceptable to Najib. Then Najib let down Razaleigh whose camp was already preparing for the victory procession the next day. Well, is such a person suitable to be the deputy of the new PM? Formation of UMNO Baru 
When the High Court was satisfied that there was unauthorised participation in the 1987 UMNO General Assembly, the Judge observed according to the party�s constitution it could be declared void. Lawyer Gopal Sri Ram representing the respondents (Team A) in a suit filed by Team B, immediately submitted that the court could do so. The Judge obliged. Thus, the nation witnessed the demise of the UMNO, the dominant governing party. Immediately Mahathir applied for a new party in the name of UMNO Baru. It was a Saturday. And on Monday the party was registered. He then ensured all his political enemies, including Bapa Merdeka (pic), were kept out of the new party.
Malay unity was shattered. The unity a suffered further setback after Anwar was dismissed from the Cabinet and UMNO. He was subjected to ugly scandalisation, arrested, thrown into a cell, handcuffed and blindfolded, and then was dealt lethal blows by the then IGP. Anwar�s eye was seriously hurt, he fell unconscious. Ten days later, Mahathir told us the eye injury was self-inflicted. What a lie! Mass arrests under ISA Mahathir ordered the arrest of 106 Malaysians on 27 October 1987 and the suspension of three newspapers. The victims were from all walks of life � politicians, trade unionists, NGO leaders, academics and social activists. Mainstream media became pliant. Fear loomed all over Malaysia. Nobody dared to question. Then he went on taking control of the police, the Attorney General�s chambers, and the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA). The Election Commission was already under control. With the dismissal of Tun Salleh Abas and two other senior judges, Mahathir established himself as a de facto dictator. The judiciary had lost its independence and integrity. Mahathir is on record as having directed the attorney general not to proceed with certain criminal charges, and stopped the ACA from investigating certain corruption charges. Anwar, who bartered his UMNO Youth chairmanship for 43 votes, thinly ensuring Mahathir�s victory in the 1987 UMNO elections, is now languishing in Sungai Buluh prison on cooked-up charges. Mahathir's Economic Policy Soon after he became Prime Minister, Mahathir ventured into the stockpiling of tin and rubber as a challenge to America. It was a colossal failure, costing the nation hundreds of millions of ringgit. With his knowledge and approval, Bank Negara indulged in forex trading. This too was a failure. Today our national debt stands at 182.1 billion ringgit. In spite of all of these failures, Mahathir has been portrayed as an �economic wizard� by our pliant mass media. Some eminent economists agree that the pegging of the Ringgit to the US Dollar in 1998 was a correct decision. At the same time hardly any of them think much of his other economic policies. Being a committed capitalist, social justice has always been beyond his comprehension. He indulged in cronyism and nepotism, emphasizing the creation of Malay millionaires. In 1983, at a seminar on privatisation, he promised transparency and open tenders. But he never kept his promise. A well known economist, K.S. Jomo said,� Public assets were privatised at discount, but renationalised at premiums that were enjoyed by the non-performing beneficiaries�. Let me quote just one example; The Government Medical Store (GMS) was privatised in 1994 and handed over to Southern Task Sdn. Bhd., a subsidiary of Renong ( an UMNO-linked company) very quietly. The government hospitals were directed to continue to buy the medicines only through GMS. The first thing Southern Task did was to hike up the price of its medicines. The price of morphine (a medicine to relieve the severe pain of cancer patients) was pushed up some 10 times (Speaking Truth to Power, by Jeyakumar Devaraj, pg 114-115). Petronas makes billions of ringgitin profit every year, but its accounts are kept in the dark. Bank Bumi became almost bankrupt three times. There were other companies like Renong and several others that have lost heavily. Mahathir used the people�s money to bail them out. He went on constructing white elephants such as the Twin Towers, Putrajaya, KLIA and the Formula One racetrack � squandering billions and billions of our money. While thousands of Malaysians do not have a basic minimum wage and others are living in slums and under tin-roof shelters, he built a palace costing over RM 200 million for the Prime Minister � and shamelessly put the blame on Anwar! Mahathir�s Perwaja adventure is �a spectacular failure having lost more than RM 10 billion,� says Jomo. Thank God he has vacated his position. Let us hope from now onwards the media will start reporting the truth. For our fifth Perdana Menteri wants to hear the truth. In conclusion, I wish to quote from the FEER, October 9, 2003, �I must be the only dictator in history to have to win an election before I start dictating.� Now e-mail us and tell us what you think. Your comments might be published in the Letters section of our print magazine, Aliran Monthly. Alternatively, post your comments to the message board. | |||||||||||||||
While thousands of Malaysians do not have a basic minimum wage and others are living in slums and under tin-roof shelters, he built a palace costing over RM 200 million for the Prime Minister � and shamelessly put the blame on Anwar!
