Dr M Says: It Is Not Easy For Me To Go Against Najib, But I Have To
Tun Dr M wants Najib to step down, soon.
By Mei Mei Chu — 24 Apr 2015, 01:24 PM — Updated over 9 years ago
"Saying that the government is not doing too well and that we need a change of government, that is not sedition"
Tun M at answering questions from the floor at the Malaysian Social Media Week 2015.
Image via Wazari Wazir“When you find a law is used for the wrong purpose, it becomes bad law,” Dr Mahathir said during a question and answer session at the Malaysian Social Media Week 2015.
themalaymailonline.com
"The Sedition Act is to prevent people from incidents of hatred such as civil war, and to overthrow the government. But if you say the government is not doing well and should change the leader, that is not seditious," Dr Mahathir during a question and answer session at the Malaysia Social Media Week event in Kuala Lumpur today.
themalaysianinsider.com
Despite his criticism of the use of the Sedition Act, Dr Mahathir today said that the blame does not lie with legislation but with those who enforce the law. He argued that every single law in the world is drafted to limit people’s freedom to do specific things, such as stealing. Dr Mahathir said a law is good when its use is limited to its intended purpose and those implicated are given the chance to defend themselves in a court of law.
“Unfortunately there is a tendency to abuse (laws)... that’s the problem with all laws. If a law is used to keep yourself in power, then it is wrong,” he said.
themalaymailonline.com
Dr M says Najib has turned back the clock by employing British personnel to advise him on how to run the country
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak allegedly employed British personnel among his advisers known as the "fourth floor boys". According to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Najib turned back the clock by bringing British personnel to advise the country's leaders.
"He began to recruit his own fourth floor boys plus a number of British personnel to advise him on how to run the country. They also used foreign consultants costing more than RM7 billion. We had achieved independence in 1957 and we got rid of British advisers. We did better without them. Najib did not seem to believe in the Malaysian capacity to develop the country," he said in his blog post.
Najib's surrendering to the opposition's pressures to abolish ISA resulted in increasing crime rates
Najib wearing a 1Malaysia helmet during the youth gathering at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Polytechnic.
Image via The StarMahathir said Najib also gave in to opposition demands to abolish preventive detention laws such as the Internal Security Act 1960, which resulted in spiraling crime rates. This was followed by dolling out cash in form of BR1M and organising rallies to pat himself on the back.
"The organisers were instructed to gather 10,000 people. They were given food and allowances and were transported to the sites, where they were given placards to hold up with 'I love PM' written on them. A song 1M4U was composed and sung even at the national day parade," he said.
Despite all the peagentry, Mahathir said BN still lost support from the Chinese and Malays. He said he had informed Najib that his strategy was flawed, but his views were ignored.
"He had adopted the 'Malaysian Malaysia' slogan of the opposition, only calling it '1Malaysia' instead," Dr M on Najib losing sight of bumiputeras to gain more votes
The former premier said Najib was told that the Chinese rejected his predecessor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi because of their dislike for the New Economic Policy. "To win them back Najib must ignore affirmative action and should be seen to be more supportive of the Chinese and Indians," he said.
"He reduced places for bumiputeras in the government universities even though in the numerous private universities and twinned colleges, bumiputeras make up less than 10 percent. Bumiputera contactors and small business no longer had government favour. Most had to stop their businesses," he said.
"Without saying so in so many words he had adopted the 'Malaysian Malaysia' slogan of the opposition, only calling it '1Malaysia' instead," he added in his latest blog posting.
Najib established new agencies with non-civil servants to plan the development of Malaysia instead of listening to existing government units, leaving the services of civil servants unneeded
According to Malaysiakini, like Abdullah in the past, Mahathir said Najib would rather listen to his advisers instead of established government agencies. He ignored the government planning units and set up a new agency to plan the development of the country. The agency was by non-civil servants with salaries that far exceeded the pay of civil servants which in turn caused civil servants to be unhappy. It also left their services not needed.
Tun M is likely referring to the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), which Najib established in 2009 in order to design his various "transformation programmes". Disgruntlement had led to many civil servants going against the government. "Some even joined the opposition after retirement and stood as candidates in elections," Tun M said.
On Najib and Rosmah's behaviour, "There are many things about his personal behaviour that I thought were not right. But I was prepared to overlook them, including he and his wife’s lavish lifestyle."
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad fired a new salvo at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on 10 April in a blog post, this time including mention of his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, "There are many things about his personal behaviour that I thought were not right. But I was prepared to overlook them, including he and his wife’s lavish lifestyle," the former prime minister wrote.
themalaysianinsider.com
In an article in the New York Times which mentioned Rosmah's spending on jewellery and designer handbags. It noted that there were photos of Rosmah using at least nine different Birkin bags, which typically cost between US$9,000 and US$150,000 a piece. The article had invoices and other documents as proof of jewellery purchases for Rosmah and asked the Prime Minister's Office for a response according to The Malaysian Insider.
This is said in context of taking Najib to task again over unexplained missing funds from debt-ridden 1MDB, Dr Mahathir said in a blog post that he had been able to overlook some of Najib's "behaviour" until now. He has said,"I will explain about how he lost billions of ringgit in my next blog,"
14 April: "I was involved in making Najib the Prime Minister, and he is the son of Tun Razak. Tun Razak was my mentor. It's not easy for me to go against him, but when you do something wrong, I have to comment. And 1MDB is wrong."
“I have no agenda against Najib. My agenda is about this country. This country has been known as a country that has managed after independence to do better than the British. It’s what Najib did that is wrong.”
"Where is the money for 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB)? This is still unanswered."
"The fact is the whereabouts of the money was still unknown. Najib said the money is no longer in the Cayman Islands and has been brought back.
"The people are confused. If it is not in the Cayman Islands, where is it? Where did the money come from? Half of it was said to have been brought back and another half is now in Singapore."
themalaysianinsider.com
"When I heard of the arrest of these reporters for saying something so-called seditious, I don't think it's the right way to use your power."
Dr Mahathir was referring to the arrest of five – one from The Edge Media Group's CEO and four others from TMI by police in late March for sedition.
"Of course, you can say it is not him, it is the police, but we don't want to become a police state," he said.
themalaysianinsider.com
"With regards to Altantuya, I am merely asking who gave Sirul (Azhar Umar) the order. I am not accusing Najib. Normally, the police or army won’t kill someone unless they are attacked or ordered to."
"If I was angry because of the crooked bridge, I would have called for Najib’s resignation before GE13. Instead, I campaigned for his victory."
"He was my hope after Pak Lah (Abdullah) resigned. He said he would build the bridge when he became the prime minister even if Singapore opposes to it. But he didn't do," claimed the former premier.
Dr Mahathir said he was unhappy when Najib broke his promise and appeared to "kowtow" to Singapore for not proceeding with the project.
But Dr Mahathir denied being angry with the Prime Minister for not building the crooked bridge linking Johor and Singapore, saying that he would not have campaigned for Najib’s victory in the 2013 general election (GE13).
On BR1M, "We should create jobs for the people, give them education, train them so that they can live and make money for themselves. That should be the approach. You can give welfare, but only to the people who are really in need."
"I feel that Najib is going to cause Umno to lose in the next election, believe me... The Umno that I led before was quite powerful, the Umno now is about money."
“If policies were not changed, if things were not done wrongly, today we would be a great country,” he said in an April 10 video interview. “By now, I think this country should already have become a developed country. I’m sure of that.”
Tun M also says Najib should step down to give Umno two years to recover before the next general election
"It has to be now because we still have two years to recover. If he doesn't go now, the Public Accounts Committee and others will be investigating the matter (1MDB) for the next two or three years and come GE, if he is still around, we will lose.
"I think there will be a lot of trouble for everyone. And those who cover up, they will have to pay the price," he said, adding that there should be ‘two or three’ independent commissions to look into the matter.