Two former prime ministers are now engaged in a war of words following Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s claim that current PM Anwar Ibrahim was a ‘dictator’.
Najib calls Mahathir ‘Mr ISA’
In a Facebook post yesterday, Najib Razak took a swipe aiming at the irony behind Mahathir’s claim that the Anwar-led government was a ‘dictatorship’, where the post was titled ‘Mr ISA calling someone else a dictator’.
In the post, Najib mocked Mahathir by detailing what he and his family was subjected to during the Pakatan Harapan government from 2018-2020.
“Prevented (Najib) and his family from leaving the country before charges were made, put roadblocks at the streets near his house.
“Waited until a day before Ramadan to ask the media to conduct live coverage of his house being searched, and then searched his home for several days,” he wrote.
The first was referring to the events that took place after Barisan Nasional (BN) lost the 2018 election, while the second was about the 1MDB scandal, where Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor were unable to leave the country.
Najib also said Mahathir had replaced several government figures after taking power, such as the attorney-general, head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the chief judge, the governor of Bank Negara, and the inspector-general of police.
Follow what Mahathir did to Najib and his family, then only can you call yourself a dictator.
Read the post here:
Why is Anwar being called a ‘dictator’?
Mahathir’s outburst towards the unity government comes after the Proklamasi Orang Melayu (Malay Proclamation) gathering was forced to be cancelled due to venue issues yesterday.
After the cancellation, Mahathir held a press conference where he blasted Anwar of acting like a ‘dictator’ and being ‘oppressive’, claiming that Malays in the country were losing even more power thanks to the government’s “multiracial” nature.
The Malays are the founders of this country yet the government won’t allow us to even gather. This is the new government today, a dictator(ship).
“We as the people have the right to gather and criticise the government but this is a dictator’s government. People can’t speak up or criticise (the government),” he said as quoted by The Vibes.
Ironically, Mahathir’s reign as prime minister from 1981 to 2003 is often synonymous with fear and silencing of dissent, with the usage of the Internal Security Act (ISA) as a prime example, where several Opposition leaders were arrested and newspapers had their licenses revoked during Operasi Lalang.
What do you think of Najib and Mahathir’s statements? Share with us in the comments!
READ ALSO:
