With the reactionary forces now taking over Umno, Mahathir has fired a broadside calling for a strong, powerful government.
He said in his latest blog entry that a weak government would be incapable of dealing with racial and religious conflicts:
We now have a weak Government and clearly it is incapable of dealing with the tendency towards conflicts because of race and religion. Because of its weakness it commands little respect and even the weakest parties would thumb its collective noses at the Government. The Government apparently has no idea how to handle these problems. We see it apologising only to have it’s apologies rejected.
Hang on a minute. Who are the ones actually stirring these conflicts? Who exactly is responsible for “race politics”?
If the government is weak today, it is because of its inability to reform the oppressive structures, many of which were put in place during Mahathir’s time. It is this inability to reform and undo the damage of the Mahathir era that led to the Abdullah administration losing much of its popular support. In fact, the Abdullah administration’s initial popularity was premised on the hope that Abdullah’s softer approach promised to usher in an era of liberalisation that would be in stark contrast to Mahathir’s repressive rule.
Of course, we know that Mahathir’s use of the terms “strong government” and “stability” are but code words for authoritarian and even repressive rule.
Apparently, 22 years of authoritarian rule is not enough for Mahathir. It was 22 years of suppressing problems and differences and sweeping dirt under the carpet, 22 years of one scandal after another.
Now with his son Mukhriz leading the nominations for the Umno Youth chief post and other candidates inspired by the regrouping of reactionary forces, Mahathir clearly feels emboldened enough to call for a return to authoritarian rule…. err, I mean “powerful government”.
19. We have had strong Governments for almost 50 years. When we gained independence few gave us any chance. They foresaw racial clashes and political instability.
20. But they are wrong. With strong Governments in place, the bickering between races was reduced. The country was stabilised and with that the economy grew. The objective of becoming a developed country by 2020 seems possible.
21. Now with this weak Government, with incompetent leadership the country is not developing as fast as it used to.
22. In a single ethnic country it does not matter if the Government is weak because it will not have to deal with the heavy pressure of racial conflicts even if the Government is less competent.
23. My observation of Malaysian politics over the last 50 years has convinced that a powerful Government lead by competent leaders is necessary for multi-racial Malaysia.
Obviously, Mahathir has learnt nothing about the rakyat’s yearning for human rights, social-economic justice, and accountability in all aspects of public life. Obviously, he knows zilch about their aspirations for People Power and democratisation.
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Yes, it is back to Mahatirism. Najib is too easily influenced and does not have the b*** to say no.
And btw, have you seen the latest, cartoon biography of him? The author’s name, E Yu, just about describes my reaction.
Please do a book review countering the stupid trumpeting in the book (unfortunately currently no. 1 on MPH’s bestseller list!)
…
Hi, Anil – your poll on whoyouwannahaveasPM forgot “Mahathir”.
I know it’s not done to want someone to shut up, but we’ve been forced to listen to this man for 22 years so isn’t it time for some other voices to be heard?
Where are the whistleblowers who can nab him for good?
So tired of him…and now we have to deal with his son!?
As a Malaysian working in Singapore, I can’t help but compare the work of Mamak and LKY. They are streets apart. Mamak (appears) jealous of LKY’s achievement and will go all out to make life difficult for the red dot nevermind if his own fellow countrymen suffered as well. With his advance age, most likely he may not see the Olympic in 2012 but he will leave behind a bad legacy that will haunt Malaysians for generation. Hence its important that we must not let this Mamak … again or else the country’s future will be doomed
What’s so great about this Mahathir. He adulterated everything that Malaysia was for. Please leave us alone and go take a hike.
GloriousMalaysia, you forgot to mention… ‘and make us the laughing stock of the world for building such an impractical structure’.
Will the rakyat do something and ensure this racialistic and arrogant Mamak … will never have a hand in our country future.
It is mind blogging to have this … working behind the scene for our up and coming PM …
Jong On….yes only the brave Tun has the courage to built the crooked bridge and stick it to Singapore
Does that mean we will once again have the Crooked Bridge, to compliment the crooked puppet of crooked ‘old fart’ and his crooked policies? Are we to stay quiet and watch the return of that Mamak dictator and his policies, he calls “strong”? NO! To all BN elected Members of Parliament, search your conscience – do the right thing for the sake of this country’s future, just cross over to Pakatan Rakyat for change! Albert Einstein once said: “The world is a dangerous place not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on(then look away!)… Read more »
GloriousMalaysia, I pity your low expectatations. FYI, many of your beloved Dr. M’s achievements were little more than hollow shells of glory. Like fancy, rich icing on a mouldy cake. By the way, you might like to note the ‘author’ behind some of those history books you are reading. The ones you are reading just well may be written by your beloved himself or one of his legions of cronies. It is people like you that lie blind to the world around them and are eaily delighted by party tricks of the ones in power. BTW, Malaysia is STILL considered… Read more »
Mahatir : My observation of Malaysian politics over the last 50 years has convinced that a powerful Government lead by competent leaders is necessary for multi-racial Malaysia? —————————————————- Seriously, I used to admire this man before while I was much younger and naive,thats because Im looking with ONE eye, learning from One source media (from TV station controled by this same person) Living within confinement on whats reminder or left over that the Government has to offer. Hearing and listening with One ear on how Government is looking after the rakyat’s interest. Now, its different. Im using all my sense… Read more »
Andrew,
why not Tun claim credit for clean air ? the very least is that the road is not heavily congested like those of Bangkok and Jarkarta. We would not have come this far if not for the brilliance of Tun. We all need Tun to lead us to another golden era of growth, prosperity and stability again. An iron grip is necessary cos some of the people need to be whip to wake them up. If Tun can rule from behind the curtain that is enough.
I would like to think that the controversial Najib becoming the PM will inspire more voters to vote for the Opposition.
I still don’t understand why anyone would vote for BN but I guess there are still many Malaysians on their ‘payroll’.
If you’re not on the BN ‘payroll’and are still voting BN then you need to be lacking seriously in morals or brains to mark BN on your ballot.
Looks like many Malaysians are still deluding themselves by STILL giving BN the majority. Can’t wait for the next GE myself.
Bring it on!
Racial politics are part and parcel of BN parties. They survive all this while because of these racial politics. They have no other altenatives. Nevertheles, the disgruntles among malaysian societies grow because of the failure of this political structure to uplift the social, economic and democratic needs of the majority in the society, the working class and the ordinary people as well as the middle class. All this while the BN has been very succesfull in enriching the political cronies and capitalists. Malcolm X, who was an intransigent opponent of the US government’s racial and imperialist policies, once said, “You… Read more »
if possible please put it as a main posting la Mr. Anil, its very important. Please, thank you.
Hi Dalbinder, what are the MPPP summonses all about? Anil
do we need a dictatorial govt to grow, james loh? singapore is an exception not a rule. remember power corrupts, absolue power corrupts. ultimately what drives a nation are the sanctity and respect for the laws of the nation. the august institutions such as police, judiciary, AG and ACA must be free from the shackles of the executive to prevent abuses. its precisely that the dictator Mahatir has (undermined) all these institutions which led to the present malaise and the consequent urgent need for reform. the populace have voted with their feet for reformation and this dictator, under the pretext… Read more »
Dear friends,
To those who have received orders to appear in court for not paying up their MPPP summonses are welcomed to a press conference with YB Rayer of Seri Delima outside the High Court beside Dewan Sri Pinang on the 16th of October 2008 at 8.30a.m. This is to help all of us thus more information on it would not be revealed over the internet. Thank You. For more information, contact 019-4806462 (Dalbinder Singh Gill).
GloriousMalaysia, yes, we are a bunch of ingrates. Should we also be grateful for the air that we breathe because I’m pretty sure he would claim credit for that if he could.
Drachen wrote: You think Dr M actually cares about the rakyat’s yearnings and aspirations? You must be joking! i dont know drachen my dear whether he actually care or not last time he was the premier. but apart from very few problems, we were doing good. we dont have any vigil there and there. we dont have 5 states going to oppositions. we dont have huge hike on fuel. malaysia going for vision 2020 which basically to be one of the developed nation by then. and very hard to find any extremely oppression by the laymen of the street (well,… Read more »
The politician whose words speak louder than his actions.
You think Dr M actually cares about the rakyat’s yearnings and aspirations? You must be joking!
Be that as it may; what alternative do we have? Looks frightening, sends chill down my spine. Anwar?? Last night I wrote about “the boy who cried wolf” in my blog.
I would certainly agree with Mahathir that we need strong government for governing a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country. We need strong government in order for the economy to grow. Sadly, we’ve strong government that is corrupted under BN and Mahathir. Singapore is more fortunate to have an authoritarian leader like Lee Kuan Yew that’s not corrupted. He’s able develop Singapore into one of the main financial center. Also, they excel in science, education, air transportation, etc. What did authoritarian Mahathir achieved? What we need is a strong central government that’s not corrupted and racist! If UMNO continues Mahathir governing method… Read more »
Can’t believed all these criticism made by all these ingrates on our beloved Tun Dr Mahathair. He is the GREATEST PM ever to govern this country. We will still be a kampong and forever bullied by the Western countries if not of Tun. Go and learn your history !!!
Did you read the ABC ( Australian Broadcasting Corp}? Mahathir said Pak Lah must resign now ‘cos “we have a lot of work to do”. Whatever that means, I leave it to your imagination.