Malaysia needs leaders like Dr M, Malay business group says

(Malay Mail Online) – Malaysia needs visionary leaders like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who can develop the economy, the Malay Chambers of Commerce (DPMM) said today.

DPMM president Datuk Syed Ali Alattas said the former prime minister has done his best when he was in power and that Dr Mahathir’s detractors should not be too quick to criticise the elder statesman.

“What we want (for Malaysia) is a statesman. Dr Mahathir is a statesman,” Syed Ali said at a news conference here.

“He has done his job in defending the dignity of our race and the country,” added.

Syed Ali was asked to comment on Dr Mahathir’s recent attacks against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“There are no permanent friends or enemies in politics. Politics is the art of the possible,” he said.

Dr Mahathir has been pushing openly for Najib’s resignation, saying that the prime minister’s refusal to address allegations on issues like the debt-ridden 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu is putting Barisan Nasional’s (BN) rule at risk.

Najib responded last week via a televised interview with TV3, during which he said Dr Mahathir’s criticism was due to his desire for the “Crooked Bridge” project to be revived and for the 1 Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) cash aid policy to be discontinued.

The so-called “Crooked Bridge” was Dr Mahathir’s idea to replace the Causeway linking Johor and Singapore, but was discontinued by his successor, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and believed to be among reasons why the latter was hounded out of office by the man who put him there.

Umno and BN leaders have also urged the former prime minister to cease his hostility towards Najib, warning that continuing to do so will only harm the government and country.

Across the weekend, Dr Mahathir reportedly said BR1M was spent on ingrates when others, such as those on the island of Langkawi in his home state, were in much greater need.