Mahathir admits Pakatan has failed but blames the opposition for this failure
So, what in heaven’s name is Mahathir talking about? If he cannot manage the country then just say so. Then step aside and let someone else take over. But stop blaming the lack of two-thirds majority in Parliament or the opposition blocking reforms for Pakatan Harapan’s failure. Ini yang dikatakan tak tahu menari, kata lantai jongkang-jongket.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
(MMO) – Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today some Pakatan Harapan election promises in their manifesto could not be implemented as they needed a two-thirds parliamentary majority backing. He also blamed the Opposition bloc as another reason for stalled reforms.
Dr Mahathir gave an example of restoring the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) which aims to restore parity between peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. “We have done many things. However, regarding creating and dropping several laws, Constitution Amendments are needed. It should get support from Opposition parties as well.”
“For example, to agree on restoring three territories parity in (MA63) Malaysia, the Sarawak parliament did not agree. It’s not that we did not want to change the law, but we need majority in Parliament.”
********************************************
I do not know how many people believe what Mahathir said, as reported above by Malay Mail Online. However, knowing how Malaysians think, I am sure many would take what Mahathir said as the Gospel.
First of all, since when does Mahathir care about Parliament — or about agreements, for that matter?
In 1974, Parliament passed the Petroleum Development Act or PDA 1974. Before 1974, all state resources such as land, water, timber, tin and all other minerals, belonged to the various states. And that would include oil and gas as well.
Then, in 1974, Parliament passed a new law or Act of Parliament to nationalise oil and gas. Hence the states no longer owned their oil and gas like what the Malaysian Agreement had stipulated.
Mahathir did not need two-thirds majority in Parliament to cancel Terengganu’s 5% oil royalty
In essence, any law passed by Parliament that violates the Constitution is null and void. But the PDA 1974 was approved by Parliament anyway. In that same PDA, it stated that a national oil company would be set up to manage the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas and that this company would be called PETRONAS.
What was even more crucial is that PETRONAS would not be answerable to Parliament but would report to just the Prime Minister. In short, the Prime Minister can run PETRONAS like his private company and not even Parliament can question him.
To strengthen the nationalisation of oil and gas further, in 1976, all the 13 states were made to sign an agreement with PETRONAS stating that PETRONAS has full ownership of all oil and gas in every state in Malaysia and in return the states would be paid 5%, which will be called ROYALTY.
In 2000, three months after PAS took over the Terengganu State Government, Mahathir cancelled the 5% oil royalty to Terengganu. In short, Mahathir ignored or membelakangkan Parliament and stole the 5% oil royalty of approximately RM800 million a year (at that time, and now RM1 billion plus).
Over eight years from 2000 to 2008, Idris Jusoh helped Umno steal RM7-8 billion of Terengganu’s oil royalty, worth double that today
Over five years, Terengganu was robbed of about RM4-5 billion. And where did the money go to? It went to Umno Terengganu, which at that time was headed by Idris Jusoh. And it must be noted that RM4-5 billion in 2000 is worth RM8-9 billion today. And all that money went direct to Umno and to be decided by Umno how the money was to be spent.
The Terengganu State Government got nothing, zero!
In 2004, the PAS government fell and Umno took back the state. And the reason why PAS was kicked out was because the state had no money so the voters were fed up and Umno had promised if they take back the state then the money would be returned.
But even though PAS had been kicked out and Umno was back in power, the money was still not returned. At that time Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was Prime Minister and he made Idris Jusoh the new Menteri Besar.
Patrick Lim and Idris Jusoh ripped of the equivalent of RM16-17 billion today
Hence the money remained in Umno’s hands, not in the hands of the state. And the man appointed as the new economic adviser who would help Idris Jusoh spend the RM800 million or RM1 billion a year was Patrick Lim, the man Mahathir called Patrick Badawi.
If Mahathir is suggesting that Pakatan Harapan’s failure to deliver its election promises is because they do not have a two-thirds majority in Parliament and that the opposition is blocking the promised reforms (which is what he is suggesting), that is utter nonsense. The 5% royalty to Terengganu is just one example. There are many other examples to show that Mahathir never worries about by-passing Parliament. If they want to do it, they can do it, even without a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
The Prime Minister and his inner circle, not Parliament, decide what happens to Petronas’s money
Anyhow, you do not need to change any laws or to get Parliament’s approval for everything. You do not need Parliament’s approval to change the colour of school shoes, or to introduce Jawi into the curriculum, or to allow Allah to be used in the Bahasa Malaysia Bibles, or to legalise gay marriages, or to abolish the death sentence, or to give back 100% ownership of oil and gas to the states (even without amending or repealing the PDA 1974), and much more.
What about the appointment of politicians to GLCs and government agencies? You do not need two-thirds of Parliament or to pass new laws for that. The Councillors are all political appointees and the local councils are the most corrupt agencies, said to be even more corrupt than the police force. This has nothing to do with two-thirds of Parliament or the opposition.
Tommy Thomas is from DAP while Latheefa Koya is from PKR. This is a conflict of interest and you do not need Parliament or the passing of new laws to remove them — and since they are political appointees they should be removed.
Is Parliament or the opposition blocking the removal of AG Tommy Thomas?
And is IGP Abdul Hamid Bador not also Mahathir’s minion? He should not be the IGP and he should be removed because of conflict of interest — and you do not need Parliament or the passing of new laws to do this.
Pakatan also promised to reduce the price of petrol to RM1.50. Do you need two-thirds of Parliament or the passing of new laws to do this? And is the opposition blocking this? The same goes with the promise to abolish toll charges on all highways. What has this got to do with Parliament or the opposition?
Is Parliament or the opposition the reason the cost of living did not come down after the removal of the GST?
Pakatan also promised the cost of living would come down once they abolish the GST. Do you need two-thirds of Parliament or the passing of new laws for the cost of living to come down? So why did the cost of living not come down? Because the opposition blocked the cost of living from coming down?
Yes, there are hundreds of promises which Pakatan Harapan made and which they have not delivered. And you do not need two-thirds of Parliament or the passing of new laws to deliver these. And it is not the opposition that is blocking the government from delivering these promises.
So, what in heaven’s name is Mahathir talking about? If he cannot manage the country then just say so. Then step aside and let someone else take over. But stop blaming the lack of two-thirds majority in Parliament or the opposition blocking reforms for Pakatan Harapan’s failure. Ini yang dikatakan tak tahu menari, kata lantai jongkang-jongket.
