MALAYSIA: Criticism of Mahathir's attacks gains strength

Straits Times
Monday, June 12, 2006

By Carolyn Hong

Kuala Lumpur --- The swell of criticism against former premier Mahathir Mohamad appears to be growing, with a sharp rebuke issued yesterday by a former newspaper editor who is a confidant of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

Datuk Kalimullah Hassan, who used to be editor of the New Straits Times, wrote yesterday in his weekly column that Tun Dr Mahathir's attacks against his successor were irrational and had caused him to lose the goodwill of Malaysians.

He wrote that the government of Datuk Seri Abdullah had exercised much restraint over the constant carping of the former premier and had also tried to respond to his criticism.

"The government gave explanations but to little avail. Yet, all those on the receiving end exercised restraint," he wrote in the New Sunday Times.

However, he warned that the store of goodwill was quickly running out after Tun Dr Mahathir took potshots at Datuk Seri Abdullah last Wednesday and made a stinging attack on the government that was tantamount to accusing the Cabinet of treason.

"That is what it really is when you say they sold out the country, that they are a government with no guts," Datuk Kalimullah wrote.

Tun Dr Mahathir described the government as "half-past six" with no guts after it scrapped a project to build a bridge to replace the Causeway because it could not secure the agreement of Singapore.

Yesterday was the first time that Datuk Kalimullah had responded to the needling of the former premier, who blamed him for the unfavourable media coverage that he gets, if at all.

At several press conferences, Tun Dr Mahathir had sarcastically told reporters that they need not take notes as his views will be blacked out by Datuk Kalimullah, whom he described as the "Hindu God (Kali) and Muslim priest (Mullah)."

Datuk Kalimullah is still an NST adviser, but denied having influenced the media.

"Dr Mahathir says it again and again, never checking whether his accusations are true," he wrote.

Datuk Kalimullah said there was nothing rational about Tun Dr Mahathir's criticism.

"And who, really, is demonising whom?" he asked, referring to the former premier's prediction last Friday that the media will be trotting out interviewees to demonise him over the next few days.

Nevertheless, the political situation is so sensitive that some Malaysians are already reading several recent newspaper stories as attempts to cast aspersions on the Mahathir administration.

Last week, The Star newspaper ran an interview with Tan Sri Ani Arope, the former chief of the state-owned utility Tenaga Nasional on the increase in electricity tariffs.

He disclosed that the company was forced to buy electricity at an exorbitant rate from independent power producers owned by well-connected personalities, thanks to lopsided contracts that favoured them.

"Ask our previous prime minister" was Tan Sri Ani's comment when asked how these agreements came about.

Yesterday, the New Sunday Times published an interview with former High Court judge Syed Ahmad Idid, who resigned in 1996 after he wrote an anonymous letter accusing several judges of corruption.

Investigations into his allegations were closed after then Attorney-General Mohtar Abdullah said they were baseless.

Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid never spoke about the incident until yesterday's interview in which he disclosed that Tan Sri Mohtar had told him in 2000 that he was forced to do what he did.

"I asked him, 'Was there a pistol at your neck when you did what you did to me?'. He replied, 'No, it was a cannon'," Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid said.

He did not say who was pointing the cannon, but it did not take much for many to jump to conclusions.