Disgruntled Mahathir Shifts Focus to Zahid Hamidi
Tajuddin Rosli
After a year long of failed attempts to oust Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has now repositioned his bearings to Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi.
Zahid was spot on when he said that the rising cost of living is due to mess-ups of previous leaders. There are two past leaders still around; Mahathir and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. While Badawi has been silent as always, Mahathir felt the heat of that statement. As they say “siapa makan cili dia rasa pedas”.
Mahathir’s response on not intending to dig up the past as he knows a lot of Zahid’s secrets sounds very cynical. Did Mahathir subtly send warning signals to Zahid? What does Mahathir mean when he said he doesn’t like digging up the past? Didn’t he do that while trying to unsettle Najib? Didn’t he speak about Najib’s father and family? Mahathir again seems to contradict himself.
Of course Mahathir does not want to dig up the past. It would be another suicidal mission for him. No living being in Malaysia has a dirtier past when compared to Mahathir. The Forex fiasco, the Carrian scandal, the Maminco affair, the Perwaja Steel scandal, the Pan Electric crisis, and the North-South highway scandal are just some of the financial misappropriations that sit on Mahathir’s curriculum vitae.
Further, Mahathir was responsible for the demise of judiciary independence in Malaysia, messing up of the education system, cronyism, nepotism, favouritism, etc. Failed projects like the Bakun-dam and Proton is also Mahathir’s achievement. Mahathir’s closet is so filthy that volumes of books can be written on his wrongdoings. The book ‘Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times’ published in 2010 gives a good account on how Mahathir ruled at the same time ruined the country for generations to come. Mahathir’s ‘Malay Dilemma’ has become the Malaysian dilemma.
“Kalau tak nak bayar tol, balik lah ke kampung”, responded Malaysia’s longest serving Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad once upon a time upon being asked by a journalist about toll charges. There has always been an air of arrogance about Mahathir. He behaves like a Godfather. He speaks as though he is the main reason other leaders are where they are. Previously, he said that Najib grew in the ranks of politics because of him. Now he says that Zahid became a minister because of him. Well, Malaysia is also rotten because of you, Mahathir.
Mahathir always had a problem with Zahid. Mahathir once labeled Zahid as ‘Anwar’s man’. One day prior to the Umno General Assembly in 1998, Zahid openly criticized the practices of cronyism and nepotism in the management of the economy under Mahathir’s leadership. This came at a time when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was exerting pressure on Mahathir to resign. Mahathir alleged that both Anwar and Zahid were trying to discredit him during the General Assembly, and we all know what happened to Anwar thereafter. Mahathir warned Umno members against being swayed by foreign reports against him. Isn’t it ironic that Mahathir himself tried to cause unrest in Umno against the current President at the most recent Umno Assembly?
The Anwar-Zahid partnership in the 1990s sent shivers down Mahathir’s spine. There were strong rumours in 1995 that Anwar was going to stand against Mahathir for the President’s post of Umno in the 1996 party elections. When such rumours emerged, Mahathir influenced the Umno Supreme Council to pass new rulings regarding the election. The first ruling stated that the top two party posts should not be contested. The party’s divisions could only nominate Mahathir for president and Anwar for deputy president. Any other nominations for the top two posts would be rejected. The second ruling stipulated that candidates for the three posts of vice-president, 25 Supreme Council seats, and all posts in Pemuda and Wanita Umno were required to register their candidacy five months ahead of the general assembly. These rulings detracted from Umno’s election tradition. Isn’t it hypocritical how Mahathir accuses Najib of ‘killing’ democracy?
When the tides were rough for Najib, he sacked Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and appointed Zahid as the new Deputy Prime Minister. Mahathir never approved of Zahid moving up in place of his man, Muhyiddin. Till today, Mahathir is struggling to swallow the bitter pill of defeat. Mahathir is now obviously trying to unsettle Zahid. However, his attempts are going to fall flat yet again.
