The Only Dictator Here Is Mahathir
Under cover of the various political dramas sourced from irresponsible parties talking about politics and religion, one topic has continued to bring itself up repeatedly. 
Our former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
In an ironic twist of fate, the former Prime Minister has accused the administration of his former protege and now forever rival, led by Anwar Ibrahim, of being a cruel dictatorship, claiming that government critics were being prevented from voicing their dissatisfaction.
This is in reference to the various arrests made against Bersatu leaders due to the Jana Wibawa scandal - which includes another protege of his, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, alongside multiple figures that were once closely associated with the elder statesman.
It is funny to see these pronouncements by him, given that the elder statesman has repeatedly proven that he is one with dictatorial tendencies.
In his time in office, Dr Mahathir weakened state and informal institutions and packed them with loyalists to facilitate his autocratic rule. In the most egregious case, he intervened to subdue the judiciary and ensure it would yield the results he sought when his political control was endangered.
When it came to the royalty, confrontation was the name of the game. By pushing a constitutional amendment to Article 66 in Parliament in August 1983 to bypass the King and the Rulers in the legislative process - it was unanimously vetoed by the Conference of Rulers. The government then unleashed an intense media campaign to accuse the royals of extravagant lifestyles, abuses and improprieties. A compromise Amendment Bill was then worked out in 1984 to allow the King and the Rulers to be bypassed in the legislative process after a multi-tiered process.
For his own allies, he downgraded once great parties in the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Malaysian Indian Congress to junior parties - meant only to serve Mahathir and his loyalists in UMNO.
And most egregiously, his treatment of political rivals under the ISA - leaving a legacy of arrested opposition and Barisan Nasional (BN) politicians, academics, social activists and non-governmental organisation leaders, a fact that he has vehemently denied any role or involvement in, stating that responsibility for the arrests had laid with the police.
As he concentrated power in his office, he had no qualms about stripping away the democratic trappings and baring his authoritarian claws. The only consolation perhaps is that unlike his other authoritarian contemporaries, was that there was little in the way of tendency for murder.
There are decades of evidence towards Mahathir’s dictatorial tendencies, reams of literature that highlight his preference for a gloved fist.
It is heartening then to see that as his twilight years approach, so has his legacy been tainted. Let us all remember Mahathir for what he was, a true blue Malaysian dictator.
In an ironic twist of fate, the former Prime Minister has accused the administration of his former protege and now forever rival, led by Anwar Ibrahim, of being a cruel dictatorship, claiming that government critics were being prevented from voicing their dissatisfaction.
This is in reference to the various arrests made against Bersatu leaders due to the Jana Wibawa scandal - which includes another protege of his, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, alongside multiple figures that were once closely associated with the elder statesman.
It is funny to see these pronouncements by him, given that the elder statesman has repeatedly proven that he is one with dictatorial tendencies.
In his time in office, Dr Mahathir weakened state and informal institutions and packed them with loyalists to facilitate his autocratic rule. In the most egregious case, he intervened to subdue the judiciary and ensure it would yield the results he sought when his political control was endangered.
For his own allies, he downgraded once great parties in the Malaysian Chinese Association and the Malaysian Indian Congress to junior parties - meant only to serve Mahathir and his loyalists in UMNO.
As he concentrated power in his office, he had no qualms about stripping away the democratic trappings and baring his authoritarian claws. The only consolation perhaps is that unlike his other authoritarian contemporaries, was that there was little in the way of tendency for murder.
There are decades of evidence towards Mahathir’s dictatorial tendencies, reams of literature that highlight his preference for a gloved fist.
It is heartening then to see that as his twilight years approach, so has his legacy been tainted. Let us all remember Mahathir for what he was, a true blue Malaysian dictator.
Comments
Post a Comment