The paradox named Mahathir

Mahathir is the guru of parody in Malaysia. With a straight face and without blinking an eye, he can tell you the opposite of what he said at another point in time. And the most ironical thing about this whole thing is he actually believes what he says.

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Raja Petra Kamarudin

A paradox is a statement that, despite apparently sound reasoning from true premises, leads to a self-contradictory or a logically unacceptable conclusion. And clearly paradox is the man named Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is not abashed about his parody and will proudly and arrogantly demonstrate it as a badge of honour.

It is Mahathir who in the 1980s accused the Rulers of interfering in the government and of getting involved in politics and then made his move to remove the immunity of the Rulers so that they could be brought to court to face trial for their crimes.

Mahathir then launched an anti-monarchy road show the length and breadth of Malaysia where he exposed the so-called crimes and wrongdoings of all the Rulers and condemned them for abusing their powers. The Rulers were said to be a waste of the rakyat’s money and who earned hundreds of millions, not including the businesses they did and the government land and concessions they procured, while contributing nothing back to the country.

And as part of this move to remove the immunity of the Rulers, Mahathir got the government to pass a law in parliament whereby the signature of His Majesty the Agong is no longer required for laws to be passed. And that would mean in essence Malaysia has become a republic while still maintaining the façade of a constitutional monarchy.

Mahathir then elevated the status of the Syariah court to be at par with the common law court and at the Gerakan AGM he announced that Malaysia is a Muslim country, based on Islam being the religion of the Federation of Malaysia. Unofficially this turned Malaysia into an Islamic Republic although in name Malaysia is a Constitutional Monarchy with the Rulers as head of Islam.

Today, Mahathir wants the Rulers to intervene in the government and interfere in politics as well and remove Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and replace him with a proxy Prime Minister with his son, Mukhriz, as the Deputy Prime Minister.

Mahathir also complains about what he says are undemocratic laws being passed by Parliament without any checks and balances from the Rulers, although since the 1990s there is nothing much the Rulers can do regarding bills passed by parliament.

And Mahathir, who when he was Prime Minister opposed protests and street demonstrations and would detain without trial anyone and everyone who planned such protests and street demonstrations, wants to organise yet another Bersih rally to pressure Najib into resigning.

And Mahathir, who used the police to control the country and to oppress his opponents, now grumbles that Malaysia has been turned into a police state.

And Mahathir, who said that detention without trial is important and the proof is that the Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers is still standing while the New York Twin Towers no longer exists — because the United States does not have an Internal Security Act like Malaysia does/did today — grumbles that there is no longer any freedom and democracy in Malaysia.

And Mahathir, who said that Malaysia is a multi-racial country with citizens of various ethnicities and religious persuasions — and hence absolute and total freedom of speech and opinion cannot be allowed (to avoid another May 13) — today grumbles that he is not allowed freedom to speak.

And Mahathir, who in November 1999 said that Barisan Nasional must not only win the general election but must also win with a two-thirds majority or else Malaysia will face the risk of an eruption of May 13 Version 2 today says Umno and Barisan Nasional must be ousted and replaced with a DAP-led Pakatan Harapan.

It was Mahathir who in 1987 said that even if he wins with just one vote he would not step down because the party that wins the most number of seats and not the most number of votes gets to form the government. And now he says that Najib is an illegal Prime Minister because his party did not win more than 50% of the votes although it did win more than 50% of the seats.

It was Mahathir who in 2013 said that Najib wasted his time with the Chinese voters — who still refused to vote for Barisan Nasional and 95% or more who voted for the opposition — while Najib neglected the Malays who are the backbone of Umno and who form Umno’s support base. And now Mahathir is working with the DAP-led opposition to try to topple the Umno-led ruling government.

It is Mahathir who says that many allegations of abuse of power and corruption have been made against him but not a single allegation has been proven in court and, in fact, he has never been dragged to court to face any charges — while he makes allegations against Najib and says that the Prime Minister must resign because of these allegations.

Yes, the paradox of the man named Mahathir knows no limit. And if the above is still not enough and you still need more, then view the video below for your weekend entertainment.