Mahathir tok kok, yet again

Mahathir’s argument is simply that from his Prime Minister’s salary of 22 years there is no way he could afford RM1 billion. Barry Wain has already said Mahathir cost Malaysia RM100 billion in his 22 years as Prime Minister. Mahathir never denied that or took Barry Wain to court. So the allegation that Mahathir cost Malaysia RM100 billion still stands. And Barry Wain listed in minute detail how he came to that figure of RM100 billion, which both Edmund Terence Gomez and Jomo Kwame Sundaram agree with.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Zaid Ibrahim said PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang must prove that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak did not pay him (Hadi) a RM90 million bribe. Even when Hadi denied it the Pakatan Harapan people say a mere denial is not good enough. Hadi needs to prove it, not just deny it. The burden of proof, therefore, has been placed on the the accused and not the accuser.

READ HERE: PAS Must Prove It’s Not Taken Umno Money, Says Zaid

Hadi then took his case to court and sued Sarawak Report, the website that first started the story of the RM90 million bribe that Najib was alleged to have paid him. Sarawak Report says the allegation is based on what people believe or what they heard, or something like that, and until today Sarawak Report has failed to furnish tangible evidence to support the allegation.

Today, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysia Today must show proof that he bribed Lim Kit Siang RM1 billion so that his party, PPBM, can be admitted into Pakatan Harapan, so that he (Mahathir) can be appointed Pakatan Harapan’s Chairman, so that Kit Siang will close his mouth regarding the RM31.5 billion Bank Negara forex scandal, and so that Mukhriz can be given a safe seat that DAP controls and can tell the voters who to vote for.

It was Kit Siang who persistently accused Mahathir of stealing billions of Malaysian taxpayers’ money

Based on Pakatan Harapan’s standards regarding burden of proof, which has been dictated by no less than a lawyer and one-time law minister Zaid Ibrahim, the burden of proof rests with Mahathir to prove he did not bribe Kit Siang and not with me to prove he did. We need to maintain consistency and the rules have already been established by someone of the caliber of a law minister. And the Pakatan Harapan rule is Mahathir must prove he did not pay Kit Siang a RM1 billion bribe.

Mahathir’s argument is that based on his salary as Prime Minister for 22 years he could not afford to pay Kit Siang RM1 billion. That is like saying water is wet. Even idiots such as Rafizi Ramli and Tony Pua can figure that one out. And you do not need DAP’s Microsoft Excel to do the arithmetic and come to the conclusion that Mahathir did not earn RM1 billion from his Prime Minister’s salary over 22 years.

First of all, when I say Mahathir paid Kit Siang RM1 billion, it does not mean he has to personally sign a cheque or carry bags full of cash. Mahathir’s wealth is all parked under his children, proxies, nominees and cronies. As is the normal practice with hot or dirty money, it will be the family members, proxies, nominees or cronies who handle the actual pay-outs. Only idiots would sign a cheque for RM1 billion or cash a RM1 billion cheque and carry the cash in, say, 200 suitcases.

Barry Wain said Mahathir cost Malaysia RM100 billion and it has never been denied and neither did Mahathir sue him

Mahathir’s argument is that from his Prime Minister’s salary of 22 years there is no way he could afford RM1 billion. Barry Wain has already said Mahathir cost Malaysia RM100 billion in his 22 years as Prime Minister. Mahathir never denied that or took Barry Wain to court. So the allegation that Mahathir cost Malaysia RM100 billion still stands. And Barry Wain listed in minute detail how he came to that figure of RM100 billion, which both Edmund Terence Gomez and Jomo Kwame Sundaram agree with.

Mahathir has so far spent RM2 billion for the ANC (Anti-Najib campaign) since December 2014 till today. The total budget until the next general election, which will include the cost to finance the general election, is RM5 billion. Where did this money come from? We know it does not come from his 22 years salary as Prime Minister. Mahathir does not need to tell us that. So we want to know where the RM5 billion came from.

On top of that Mahathir’s children are all billionaires and are listed in Forbes’ list of top 100 richest Malaysians. Mahathir himself has billions in investments all over the world, even in a hotel resort within walking distance from his house in Mines. And what about the horse ranch in Argentina and the numerous apartments in London worth tens of millions each?

Combined, all that is worth 100 billion. If Mahathir says his salary as Prime Minister does not come to RM1 billion then where did the billions to acquire all these assets and investments come from? And does Mahathir deny that he did a deal with one of the largest German power generation companies where his commission was enormous and that he personally went to Germany to negotiate that commission?

Guess who was in the next room while this negotiation was going on? Does that Chinaman who got the privatisation job like to comment on how much it cost them to get that job? Don’t make me name names but if Mahathir insists I will do just that.

Mahathir’s 22 years salary as Prime Minister cannot even pay the downpayment for his home in London so where did the money come from?

So Mahathir can stop pretending he lives in a small house in Mines and that his monthly salary as Prime Minister for 22 years does not come to RM1 billion. I would wholeheartedly agree with Mahathir that his salary does not come to RM1 billion. But what about the RM100 billion that comes from the commission, under-the-table money, kickbacks and bribes?

Every single Pakatan Harapan member and leader will say that Mahathir is worth billions. Ask Anwar Ibrahim, Azmin Ali, Mat Sabu, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng or any of the hundreds of thousands of Pakatan Harapan people. Not a single person will say that Mahathir is poor and that all he owns is what he earned from his Prime Minister’s salary over 22 years.

To say that Mahathir is poor and all he owns is what he earned over 22 years as Prime Minister is insulting our intelligence. Orang bodoh macam lembu pun tak percaya.

Let us stop talking about whether Mahathir is rich or poor. That is like trying to debate whether I am still a virgin. The point is Mahathir knows that Kit Siang calls the shots and decides what happens in Pakatan Harapan. Hence Mahathir had to bribe him so that his party, PPBM, can be admitted into Pakatan Harapan, so that he can be appointed Pakatan Harapan’s Chairman, so that Kit Siang will close his mouth regarding the RM31.5 billion Bank Negara forex scandal, and so that Mukhriz can be given a safe seat that DAP controls and can tell the voters who to vote for.

Mahathir said his salary is not enough to pay Kit Siang RM1 billion. But Mahathir did not say he did not pay Kit Siang RM1 billion from his accumulated wealth of RM100 billion. In that sense Mahathir did not lie. But then he is also economical with the truth. And that is classic Mahathir; his trademark of how he does things.