Khairy challenges Dr M to win 2/3 majority in GE14

(FMT) – Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin today challenged Dr Mahathir Mohamad to prove his ability to win the 14th general election (GE14) with a large majority in the era of social media.

“If blogs and all kinds of social media existed in his era I wonder if he still could have won a two-third majority as easily,” said Khairy in his opening speech at the Umno Youth wing conference.

The youth and sports minister reminded the chairman of Pakatan Harapan not to trumpet the successes of Barisan Nasional (BN) in winning large majorities when he led the country from 1981 to 2003.

“Too many times he had boasted and reminded us of his success in winning five general elections, each time with a two-third majority. The nostalgic fairy tale is once again being hawked as proof that he is a popular and great leader compared to the current leader.

“Those carried along by the nostalgic fairy tale forget that the political environment of the past is vastly different from the present.”

He said Mahathir’s rule was far different from the era of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s leadership because the former used an uncompromising approach to the extent that his administration was described as “iron fisted” which ignored democratic principles.

“The ISA (Internal Security Act) became a weapon to detain individuals deemed a political threat without trial.

“The UUCA (University and University Colleges Act) was used as a barrier to prevent university students from speaking up.

“A culture of fear was created in the party, government and country. But now, he is talking like he is a saint and we are the ones who are cruel and dictatorial,” said Khairy.

Khairy said that BN could achieve big victories during Mahathir’s rule as the media was controlled tightly.

“The mainstream media was controlled absolutely and alternative media was lacking. All the spin and stories were determined by Mahathir and anyone who dissented would be sent to prison.

“There was no freedom of speech, whether from within or outside of the party. All the critical newspapers were closed.

“Political critics were arrested and thrown into prison during Ops Lalang.

“When an enemy needed to be silenced, the Memali tragedy happened supposedly for reasons of national security. Courts were controlled fully and even the chief justice was removed without strong reasons.”