Mahathir’s Motivation
LSSReport
The image of Mahathir in a BERSIH 5 shirt while doing a video advertistment to promote the event was a real eye-opener for many people – some people applauded him while many others were turned off.
We may never know if his presence was the reason why BERSIH 5 attendance was down by as much as 80% as estimated by BERSIH themselves or down 60% as estimated by MalaysiaKini but that is not the focus of today’s article.
Much has been said about Mahathir’s recent U-turns, many of which have puzzled friends and foes alike. He has made so many that we can only speculate what else more in future where he would make similar U-Turns in support of DAP’s stand.
There are already a lot of these U-turns – some of which are shocking, including his call in the foreign media for foreign intervention in Malaysia.
So, what had motivated the former Prime Minister to make such shocking U-turns which is so out-of-character based on his past track records that to many, it has made him look like the ultimate shamless hypocrite?
Unless Mahathir spills the beans himself, we can only speculate.
But it is easier to say what is not the reason than to say with certainty what is the real reason. Let’s list them all down.
It is not because of 1MDB or RM2.6 billion or any alleged corruption.
Why do I say this? Well, Mahathir had actually publicly announced in August 2014 that he had pulled back support from Najib. Remember this date, August 2014. This event had sent shock-waves in the local media at that time.
This is way before there were any allegations on 1MDB or any hint of RM2.6 billion in PM’s account.
In fact, the reasons given by Mahathir at that time were only these four:
1. Najib abolished ISA.
2. Najib was too friendly to Singapore.
3. Najib did not take care of the “kaum and parti” who had helped save the govt in GE13. (Mahathir had previously blamed Najib of being too nice to the Chinese in GE13).
4. Najib allows more imports at the expense of local products (a chief complaint of his Proton then).
There was nothing about 1MDB or SOSMA or RM2.6b or anything like that when Mahathir withdrew support.
It is not because Mahathir thinks that Najib is kejam or cruel or had implemented NSC or SOSMA
In fact, the first point that Mahathir had given to withdraw support is that Najib abolished ISA
