Aliran Media Statement

Let's have a fair fight for Kubang Pasu!

Aliran notes that even before Dr. Mahathir Mohamad himself has announced the date of the next general election, he has `gone on the defensive' against the possibility of Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's challenging him in Kubang Pasu. The Malaysian public needs little imagination to understand Dr. Mahathir's worry that such a contest will take place.

In the 1969 general election, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, incumbent Member of Parliament for Kota Star Selatan, lost to Haji Yusof Rawa of Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS). Thereafter Dr. Mahathir rebelled against Tunku Abdul Rahman and was sacked from UMNO. In the next general election, Dr. Mahathir was back in UMNO but not in Kota Star Selatan. Instead he contested in Kubang Pasu, won, and has held the constituency since then.

But, in light of the Anwar Ibrahim Saga, the rise of Reformasi, and the persistence of the economic crisis, even Dr. Mahathir must realise that Kubang Pasu constituency is no longer the Mahathir fortress it once was -- especially if Dr. Wan Azizah contests in Kubang Pasu with the full support of the Reformasi movement.

Consequently, and although far from his constituency, Dr. Mahathir has begun to remind the Kubang Pasu voters that it was he who brought the Universiti Utara Malaysia to Kedah and it was he who brought the Universiti Malaysia Sabah to Sabah. He has been ungracious enough to declare that if Dr. Wan Azizah can bring hundreds of millions of ringgit of development funds to Kubang Pasu, he would personally ask the voters to vote for Dr. Wan Azizah.

No doubt, Dr. Mahathir's attitude betrays a growing sense of desperation. But Aliran finds his line of reasoning to be unbecoming of any elected representative, let alone one who holds the office of the Prime Minister.

Dr. Mahathir should desist from talking about `bringing projects' and `bringing funds' as if the projects are financed by his own, not public funds. If Dr. Mahathir is so confident that his management of the economic crisis is beyond reproach, and if he is so certain that his handling of the Anwar saga is acceptable to the Kubang Pasu voters, let him fight fairly for Kubang Pasu on just those issues.

But, if Dr. Mahathir feels unable to defend Kubang Pasu against Dr. Wan Azizah without resorting to the Barisan Nasional's brand of `money-and-development politics', maybe he should consider finding himself a new constituency.


Aliran Executive Committee
8 March 1999