NOW that we have heard it from the horse’s (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s) mouth that he had used DAP just as DAP had used him in the campaign against Datuk Seri Najib Razak during the 14th general election (GE14), I refer to my press statement of March 7, 2016 entitled “Saving Malaysia: from reformism to opportunism”.
At the time, Pakatan Harapan (PH), the coalition promising “reformasi”, had tried to sell him as a “born-again democrat”.
Pakatan’s NGO allies also fell for Mahathir’s “coming-out” extravaganza and quite a few were rewarded for their efforts after GE14 with plum jobs in the PH administration.
In fact, a few months earlier, on October 16, 2015, in another of my press statements entitled “Born again democrats and the politics of impunity” I said:
“Of late, Malaysian politics seems to have taken on some of the rules of organised religions. It is well known that in some religions, you may have committed so much sin in your lifetime but so long as before your last breath expires, you accept the Chosen One as your personal saviour and you have booked your place in the hereafter…”
“Does it look any different in Malaysian politics? You can be part of the Barisan Nasional that has run the country for all these 58 years, wreaking havoc on ethnic relations, mishandling the economy through corruption, enriching selected elites, detaining innocent Malaysians without trial, etc. but if you become a ‘born again democrat’ and denounce the current regime, it looks as though your record in the Barisan Nasional can be wiped clean…”
At the time, we heard that trite cliché that “C’mon lah, there are no permanent enemies in politics”. I pointed out then that this is typically spouted by desperadoes and drama kings when opportunism raises its ugly head.
Mahathir was roundly made the head of the “Save Malaysia” campaign with a rousing declaration and the rest is history.
The audacity of naivete
To even think that this strange collection of bedfellows could change the structures set up by Mahathir and Umno was the most audacious naivete.
Opportunism in its crudest form can be seen when politicians target an individual (at the time, Najib Razak) and not the political regime and political economic system that oppresses, divides, and exploits the people.
This so-called “Save Malaysia” campaign to only expel Najib but maintain rule of the same racist and exploitative dominant party was nothing short of pure opportunism.
The failure to implement any reform of the neoliberal economic policies that Mahathir had set in motion in the early eighties cannot be seen as systemic reforms. Taxes on the rakyat will continue and income disparities will continue to widen as the working class continues to bear the burden of so-called development.
Najib had merely made more extreme the structures created by Mahathir to entrench the powers of the executive, emasculate the democratic institutions, and provide the means for private enrichment of the elite in this country. Racist and racial discriminatory policies were also entrenched by Mahathir in the early eighties and further manipulated by Najib.
No impunity for miscreants
Another nauseating sight was that of apologists for their new saviour, Mahathir, declaring their own “forgiveness” of this former authoritarian prime minister who had wreaked havoc on ethnic relations, mishandled the economy through corruption, enriched selected elites, detained innocent Malaysians without trial and sacked the former lord president.
They tried to create the delusion that “born-again democrats” who denounced then prime minister Najib could have their records wiped clean! But who were these politicians to declare which leader could be forgiven for their past crimes against the people of this country?
Mahathir has still not apologised for Operation Lalang and other transgressions.
If these PH politicians know anything about accountability and justice, they will know that the Malaysian people still want to ensure that these former politicians get their just desserts and repay their dues to the rakyat.
Mahathir has to this day not even apologised to all the victims of Operation Lalang or to the former lord president whom he sacked in 1988.
In human rights, democracy and justice, there is no place for impunity.
Impunity means “exemption from punishment or loss or escape from fines”. It refers to the failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations, rule of law flouters and the corrupt to justice and constitutes a denial of the victims’ right to justice and redress.
We are familiar with impunity which is especially common in countries that do not respect the rule of law, that suffer from corruption and have entrenched systems of patronage, or where the judiciary is weak, and the security forces are protected by the powers-that-be.
What have Malaysian voters learnt from the “second coming of Mahathir” in GE14, the reneging on PH’s election manifesto and the subsequent Sheraton Move? Are they any wiser after these events? Will they continue to be led up the garden path by careerists and opportunists? Will the promises of “reformasi” ever be fulfilled?
Only time will tell. – The Vibes, November 15, 2023
Kua Kia Soong is a former MP and a director of Suaram
