DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has challenged Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to a public debate following the former prime minister’s claims that the Malays’ grip on politics was weak due to disunity, prompting them to beg support from other races to remain in power.
Lim said Malaysia's longest-serving prime minister was making such a claim because it represented the last gasp of Mahathirism to prevent politics of inclusion replacing the politics of exclusion in the country.
"Does Dr Mahathir really believe such garbage, that after 57 years of Umno government and six Umno prime ministers – with him ruling for 22 years or 39% of these 57 years as the fourth prime minister of Malaysia – that the Malays have lost political power and become beggars in their own land?
"If so, then this is the most powerful reason why the Malays and even Malaysians must throw Umno out of Putrajaya in the 14th general election, for there can be no greater indictment of the failures of 57 years of Umno rule than the fate Dr Mahathir insists the Malays have been reduced to – stripped of political power to become beggars in their own land," Lim said in a statement today.
Saying that he will await the statesman's answer to his challenge, the DAP veteran leader said the fearsome scenario outlined by Dr Mahathir does not tally with reality.
Besides Umno being the lynchpin of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, Lim pointed out that the post of deputy prime minister and other senior cabinet positions like finance, home and education, were all helmed by Malays.
This trend also existed in the civil service where the Attorney-General’s Chambers, judiciary, police and armed forces, as well as key government departments including vice-chancellors of all public universities were all headed by Malays.
"Dr Mahathir said Malays have lost political power. Have the PM, DPM, the heavy-weight Umno ministers, heads of civil service, judiciary, police, armed forces, secretaries-general and heads of departments, university vice-chancellors become puppets of the Chinese at their beck and call?
"Only crazies would answer in the affirmative, and it is unthinkable that Dr Mahathir, having been prime minister for 22 years, could believe such garbage," he said.
The Gelang Patah MP lamented that instead of showing a benign and constructive influence in Malaysian life and politics, Dr Mahathir had become an "evil influence" for not only claiming not to understand the 1Malaysia policy, but also openly repudiating his own policies of Bangsa Malaysia and Vision 2020 to make Malaysia into developed nation status.
"Dr Mahathir is not in retirement but is hyper-active in speaking engagements to continue his fear-mongering, incitement of hate and spreading of lies," Lim said.
Citing Malay rights group Perkasa’s conduct in Penang on Friday where its members used vulgar language against the state's leaders and roughed up DAP's Tebing Tinggi assemblyman Ong Boon Piow in Ipoh, Perak, Lim said he was shocked that Dr Mahathir condoned such misconduct.
Dr Mahathir is the patron of Perkasa and Lim castigated the former premier for remaining silent on their behaviour.
"Whatever my differences with Umno leaders in my 48 years of politics, I have always treated Dr Mahathir and all the other five Umno prime ministers with the greatest of respect, not only as due to their high office, but to set an example of rational and civilised political discourse in Malaysian politics.
"I feel sad that Dr Mahathir has degenerated to a stage where he could look with approval at the gangsterish and boorish misconduct of the Perkasa demonstrators in Penang and Ipoh last Friday," Lim added. – December 21, 2014.
TMI
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