The Najib-Kit Siang debate: a weapon aimed at Mahathir
Hence it will not be Najib’s nine years in power that will come under the microscope. It will be Mahathir’s 22 years as Prime Minister. And Kit Siang knows this is what is going to happen. And this is what Kit Siang wants to happen. That is why he wants to debate Najib the subject of “How Malaysia became a global kleptocracy.”
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Lim Kit Siang wants to debate Najib Tun Razak and the topic Kit Siang insists on debating is “How Malaysia became a global kleptocracy and how we can become a leading nation of integrity” or, in other words, “Make Malaysia great again” — a leaf out of President Trump’s playbook.
DAP’s argument is that for 61 years since 1957 Malaysia was one of the most corrupt nations on earth and in May 2018 the country was finally saved. Malaysians now live in a corrupt-free New Malaysia or Malaysia Baru that practices democracy and respects human rights, civil liberties, freedom of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of religion, freedom of sexual orientation, etc.
The Najib-Kit Siang debate is a bullet aimed at Dr Mahathir
This means the position the debaters are supposed to take is that Malaysia was a global kleptocracy from 1957 to 2018, no doubts about that, and that ended in May 2018. The debaters will not debate whether Malaysia was or was not a global kleptocracy. The debate starts with the position that, yes, Malaysia was a global kleptocracy. They are just going to debate how Malaysia became a global kleptocracy.
Now, this is going to be very interesting and I am really looking forward to the debate. Malaysia was supposed to have been a global kleptocracy for 61 years from 1957 to 2018. That means we are talking about Malaysia under six Prime Ministers.
But then Najib was Prime Minister for only nine years of those 61 years. So that means there are another five Prime Ministers who have to share the blame for the balance of the 52 years. And this would mean Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak Hussein, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi were also kleptocrats and crooked like hell.
Jomo has already explained many times “How Malaysia became a global kleptocracy”
Kit Siang’s position is simple. For 61 years under six Umno Prime Ministers, the country was being run into the ground. That is what DAP has been repeating for the last one year. Now he and Najib need to debate how it happened (not whether it did or did not happen).
Najib will now have to focus on how it happened (the focus of the debate). And Najib will need to explain Mahathir’s “Malaysia Incorporated” policy launched not long after he took over as Prime Minister in 1981 where the government works with businessmen to help businesses thrive.
Mahathir’s argument was government officers should not be jealous of businessmen. Government officers must help businesses because when these businesses become profitable they pay tax. Hence the government benefits. So, the government officers have to regard themselves as partners with businessmen because the government shares the profits the businesses make.
The “Malaysia Incorporated” policy was actually a very clever policy. Mahathir told the government officers to fatten the cow so that you can milk that cow. A thin and starving cow will not give you much milk. And based on that policy, Mahathir’s government worked very hard to help millionaires become billionaires — so that you could milk them for tax money.
Then we had the Look East Policy where jobs and contracts were given to Japanese companies. Even the development of the Malaysian national car, Proton, was given to the Japanese. Dayabumi, the Promet building, PWTC, etc. were all given to the Japanese.
In fact, Mahathir’s brother-in-law (Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Ali’s brother) was in partnership with one of the largest Japanese construction firms and they got many high-rise projects in Kuala Lumpur (I was involved in one of them as a sub-contractor).
Many became tycoons due to Mahathir
Then we had the corporatisation policy where government departments were turned into companies and then listed on the stock market. In this way hundreds of billions of national assets were transferred into private hands — TNB and Telekoms being just two examples.
Then we had the privatisation of the toll highways and the IPPs and so on. The list can go on and on and Najib can spend a whole hour answering Kit Siang’s question: “How Malaysia became a global kleptocracy.” (Read Professor Jomo Kwame Sundaram’s book detailing this whole thing).
The problem, though, is that all this will point back to Mahathir. Kit Siang’s question “How Malaysia became a global kleptocracy” can be answered in just one word. And that one word is “Mahathir”.
Hence it will not be Najib’s nine years in power that will come under the microscope. It will be Mahathir’s 22 years as Prime Minister. And Kit Siang knows this is what is going to happen. And this is what Kit Siang wants to happen. That is why he wants to debate Najib the subject of “How Malaysia became a global kleptocracy.”
Kit Siang is going to expose those millionaires who Mahathir turned into billionaires
