Mukhriz’s crass hypocrisy ignores father’s role in rising corruption – P. Gunasegaram
So when Mukhriz talks about corruption and how it is the No. 1 enemy of the Malays, he is right but terribly disingenuous and hypocritical. It was what his father did that resulted in profligate corruption in Malaysia. Mukhriz and his siblings may well have benefited from this, too.
P. Gunasegaran, The Vibes
DATUK Seri Mukhriz Mahathir’s assertion that Pejuang will not support a prime minister installed via statutory declarations (SDs) from corrupt Umno leaders is hypocrisy of the highest order. It ignores the fact that his father, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was largely responsible for the profligate corruption in Malaysia.
Mukhriz should also have no need for reminders that he and two of his siblings were involved in cases that could well have involved corruption, but were spared because investigating authorities reported to the prime minister. More on that later.
If it was a consistent stand of Pejuang and its leaders, including Mukhriz’s father, it may be acceptable and laudable. But further examination shows that the statement is both hypocritical and ignorant of recent history, as well the more distant ones of corruption in Malaysia.
It was Dr Mahathir, whose Bersatu then won a dismal 13 seats at the end of the 14th general election in May 2018, who first wooed people, especially from Umno, to join Bersatu to eventually increase the numbers to some 36. So was it OK to admit Umno MPs then, but not work with them now? The only reason for the current stance is the obsessive desire of Dr Mahathir and allies to deny Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim the prime minister’s position.
Remember also that, if Dr Mahathir had just kept his promise to be only the interim prime minister, Anwar would have long succeeded him and none of these SD problems would have emerged. Pakatan would have been firmly ensconced in power and carrying out promised reforms.
Where were the reforms?
Talking of reforms, Mukhriz surely must be able to recall that, given the second chance to right things, Dr Mahathir never made any attempt thwarting it at every return. The net result: the effort to curb corrupt practices by removing over-concentration of power in the hands of one man never happened. The current back-door government is using this to the hilt.
And, don’t forget the unfettered power that Dr Mahathir assigned himself after the 1987 Op Lalang, when he shamelessly used oppressive legislation to detain over 100 key people, silence the media and brutally quell dissent after engineering racial dissent earlier.
This was preceded by a bruising battle for control of Umno when Dr Mahathir narrowly beat Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah for the president’s post. Ironically, the one who tipped the balance was vacillating Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who was prevailed upon by Anwar to cast his vote and those of his supporters for Dr Mahathir.
Dr Mahathir set up Umno Baru, admitting only those whom he favoured and excluding the Razaleigh faction, which went on to form Semangat 46. Dr Mahathir made it next to impossible to dislodge an incumbent Umno president and an incumbent prime minister, setting the stage for a series of decisions that was highly questionable in nature and would have been corrupt had authorities been free to investigate.
Before we go on to that, let’s talk first about the cases involving three of Dr Mahathir’s sons, including Mukhriz.
