It was Malaysia, and NOT Dr. Mahathir, which asked for the loans from the World Bank
It was the official from the Treasury who had written and NOT Dr. Mahathir, the PM and Finance Minister. Dr. Mahathir is prepared to swear on the truth of this matter on the Koran because there is no official letter signed by Dr. Mahathir Mohamed asking for the loan or accepting the loan from the World Bank.
By Ken
The evidence at http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=223716&piPK=95917&theSitePK=40941&query=P063501,%20P060943,%20P058681&sortby=BOARDSORTDATE&pagesize=10&sortorder=DESC&match=all is explicit to all, bar the blind, English-illiterate and Internet-ignoramus, that Malaysia had taken 3 loans from the World Bank totaling US$ 404 million ( > Ringgit 2 Billion) AFTER the sacking of Anwar and the introduction of capital control in Sept. 1998.
Given that the evidence is on the official website of the World Bank, a reputed global organization, Mahathir has to be blind, English-illiterate, an Internet-ignoramus or an idiot not to realize that Malaysia HAD taken loans from the World Bank. Mahathir is certainly none of the above and is definitely not an idiot. He is merely stating that he, Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, did NOT personally ask the World Bank for those loans.
It was the official from the Treasury who had written and NOT Dr. Mahathir, the PM and Finance Minister. Dr. Mahathir is prepared to swear on the truth of this matter on the Koran because there is no official letter signed by Dr. Mahathir Mohamed asking for the loan or accepting the loan from the World Bank.
It doesn’t matter that he, Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, was the all-powerful and feared PM (as he himself has acknowledged) and the Finance Minister whose approval would have been needed for requesting and accepting any loan to the country.
If doesn’t matter that the World Bank, being a reputed organization, would not give a loan to a country unless that country’s leader’s approval had been secured by whoever was negotiating the loan.
To put it simply: Dr. Mahathir Mohammed did NOT ask the World Bank for any loan. Malaysia’s Treasury had asked and obtained the loans. So it is not correct to say that Dr. Mahathir Mohamed had asked for the loan from the World Bank. Anwar is “wrong” to accuse Dr. Mahathir Mohammed of having asked the World Bank for loans. Anwar, as a naive Finance Minister, might have asked for World Bank loans but not Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, the cunning Finance Minister who succeeded him.
Ask Dr. Mahathir Mohamed to swear on the Koran that MALAYSIA had NOT obtained loans from the World Bank after Sept. 1998, and he would definitely NOT swear. Why? Because, he was happy that that money (US$400 million) would save his sons and cronies from the financial crisis.
As PM and Finance Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohammed could have refused to accept from the money from the “Zionist Anti-Islamic Homosexual-supporting” World Bank based in Washington DC (USA) which he had criticized as being detrimental to any solution. However, he allowed Malaysia to accept the loans from the World Bank, knowing that that would mean he would have to be obliged to the Bank’s master, the US.
It is unreasonable to expect him to refuse the money when it was for a “good” cause, to save leading Malay corporate leaders such as Mirzan Mahathir, Tajudin Ramli, Halim Saad, etc., who were at the brink of failure and bankruptcy.
As Dr. Mahathir himself will point out, if the source of a dollar, its journey, or how it has been earned matters, then no mosque, church or temple can accept any money because all money would be tainted in some way. So it was perfectly all right for Malaysia to accept the loan from the World Bank so that Dr. Mahathir Mohammed could use it for the said “good” causes.
Dr. Mahathir Mohammed is and has been consistent when it comes to Money: “Ask not why, how or where the Money comes from. Just accept the Money.”
For Mahathir Mohammed, Money Matters Most.
