Please don’t jail me for the following reasons, Dr M appeals to PR

(Harakah) – Perhaps anticipating another political tsunami that could spell the end of Barisan Nasional’s rule at the coming polls, former UMNO strongman Dr Mahathir Mohamad has listed several reasons why he does not deserve the fate of fallen dictators such as Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak.

Responding to veteran DAP leader Lim Kit Siang’s suggestion that Mahathir had been at the forefront of the campaign to ensure Pakatan Rakyat does not come to power due to anxieties over his future life, Mahathir said his only fear was being put behind bars on “fabricated charges”.

“That I am innocent would be irrelevant. What is important is Kit Siang’s satisfaction at seeing me behind bars and more,” wrote the former prime minister on his blog.

He then went on to list reasons why he did not deserve imprisonment.

Among others, Mahathir said that:

• He had always been careful not to abuse the power as PM and chose to step down from power (on paper, Mahathir retired in 2003).
• He has already been questioned by the police and the AG’s office several times and nothing could be “pinned on me”.
• He has not “thrown people into jail for personal reasons” or “benefitted personally” from government projects.
• Gifts to him had been transfered to government “including a score of expensive cars”.
• He had not allowed his children to do business with the Government or stand as candidates in elections while in office.
• His money now is savings from his salary of 29 years.
• Except for his son Mirzan, his children did not get any scholarships.
• He owns not many shares, other than 200 Malayan Tobacco shares bought “long before I joined the Government”, apart from unit trusts issued by PNB and state governments and in a pharmacy he set up as a doctor in Alor Star.