LANGKAWI – Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has accepted his defeat in the parliament seat here but also expressed worry over the rise of extremism in politics and a continued apathy towards leaders who are allegedly corrupt.
Although it is the right of the people to decide who they want, Dr Mahathir worries that some candidates who have won were the types who abused religion to canvas for support, or those who preferred to indulge in corruption to help them win.
Dr Mahathir, who had served 22 years in his first tenure as prime minister followed by another 22 months in his second term from 2018 to 2020, said he had tried his best to warn Malaysians over the need to reject corruption and extremism.
“But what can we do if the voters do not listen? It is their right and if they do not want me, I will accept it,” said Dr Mahathir, who declined to comment on whether voters in Langkawi were ungrateful after the rapid development he engineered for the resort island.
According to him, the sentiment seems to indicate that a fair share of voters are willing to live with extremism, while showing apathy to leaders who are corrupt.
Dr Mahathir, 97, lost his parliamentary seat to Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah, who is the Langkawi Development Authority board’s joint-chairman.
The Pejuang chairman also lost his deposit in the process, an uncanny resemblance to how he started his political career back in 1974 when he lost the Kota Setar Selatan seat.
Asked if he would return to help Langkawi, an island he had personally helped develop into a premier tourism destination, he said he finds it hard to help the islanders now as it is apparent that they have rejected him.
“What can I do anymore? The people have rejected me.”
Dr Mahathir also urged the Election Commission and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to probe the PN coalition under Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for its alleged ability to spend lavishly in this election.
PN consists of Bersatu, PAS, Gerakan, and STAR.
“We are suspicious of PN when one is able to spend more than one earns. When someone spends more than what they own, the anti-corruption authorities have grounds to investigate. MACC needs to probe this,” said Dr Mahathir.
He said that everywhere he went in the country, he saw mostly PN flags and banners.
Meanwhile, Perlis strongman Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who contested under PN, said his move to campaign on the basis of propagating for Muslim unity has brought handsome dividends, as he retained his seat despite been rejected by Barisan Nasional (BN) two weeks ago.
PN swept into power in Perlis by winning 14 out of the 15 state seats while PAS also retained the majority of the 15 parliament seats in Kedah.
Shahidan, who was expelled from Umno together with Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin, retained his Arau parliamentary seat.
Zahidi won the Titi Tinggi state seat in Perlis although he lost his Padang Besar parliamentary seat to Puteri Umno head Datuk Zahida Zarik Khan. – The Vibes, November 20, 2022
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