Kua: After ‘betrayal’, Harapan now answerable for Dr M’s scandals
“Harapan must be prepared for more than the RM30 billion forex (foreign exchange) losses incurred during Mahathir’s term,” added the Suaram adviser in a statement.
(Malaysiakini) – A veteran human rights activist has described the appointment of Dr Mahathir Mohamad as chairperson of Pakatan Harapan, or in the former premier’s own words – “top dog” of the coalition – as the biggest betrayal of the reformasi movement.
Kua Kia Soong said it was bad enough when Harapan made an alliance with the “unrepentant former autocrat”.
“Well, now that Mahathir has been made the chairperson of the coalition, Harapan will have to answer for all his scandals.
“Harapan must be prepared for more than the RM30 billion forex (foreign exchange) losses incurred during Mahathir’s term,” added the Suaram adviser in a statement.
The reformasi movement was born following Mahathir sacking his then heir-apparent Anwar Ibrahim as deputy prime minister in 1998.
Anwar, who is currently serving a five-year prison sentence, has since agreed to collaborate with Mahathir, who is now the chairperson of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
Meanwhile, Kua said it is not as if Mahathir had become a genuine born-again democrat since he has not shown a sliver of contrition.
“He is not sorry for the white terror of Operasi Lalang, for the political conspiracy against Anwar and saying on record that the latter is morally unfit to be PM because he is a womaniser and sodomiser, for squandering more than RM100 billion in the financial scandals during his term in office through crony capitalism and bailing out failed businessmen including his son…
“The litany of woes inflicted under Mahathir’s rule has been well-documented and every community has its story: the 10,000 indigenous peoples who were forcibly displaced from their ancestral homes in Bakun in order to make way for yet another of Mahathir’s grandiose dam projects at a time when the project had been suspended during the financial crisis in 1998.
“The Indian plantation workers whose communities were destroyed through Mahathir’s neo-liberal capitalist policies and who were forced to become urban settlers.
“The needless communal controversies created around mother tongue education during the 80s, including the Unified Examination Certificate in 1975, the National Culture Policy, the unqualified school administrators sent to Chinese schools in 1987, and others,” he added.
Kua also pointed out that Mahathir was the first prime minister to claim Malaysia is an Islamic state.
In more recent times, the Suaram adviser said during the 2013 general election, the former premier had criticised Najib for wasting public funds on the Chinese after they voted for the opposition.
“He is also the top dog in the new ‘Pribumi’ party which is only open to ‘Pribumis’ no less.
“You have to be a ‘Zombie Democrat’ to accept such a party into the coalition that is supposed to embody the reformasi movement.
“Do Harapan leaders still remember what their reformasi programme stands for?” he asked.