Newly elected Jerlun MP Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir has written a letter dated March 12 to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi asking him to step down as Umno president and prime minister.
Mukhriz appears to have taken a leaf from what his father did after Umno and the then Alliance did badly in the general election of 1969. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wrote a letter demanding that Tunku Abdul Rahman resign as Umno president and prime minister. And like the letter from Mukhriz, which is now widely circulated on the Internet, Mahathir's was also widely distributed. The Umno Supreme Council sacked Mahathir from the party but the damage was done and a weakened Tunku retired not too long after that, paving the way for Tun Abdul Razak to take over. The rest, as they say, is history and Mahathir later returned to Umno and became party president and prime minister for 22 years. Let's hope that history does not repeat itself and Mahathir and son Mukhriz do not succeed in their move to oust Abdullah. To blame the anger of the people, as shown in the March 8 elections, on Abdullah is not right and fair. All the grouses that people have, especially the arrogance, bullying nature and antics of certain Umno leaders, from national level to division and branch, are legacies of 22 years of Mahathirism. It was under Mahathir that the role and power of parties like the MCA, MIC and Gerakan within the Barisan Nasional were curtailed. Power was centred on Umno and, in particular, Mahathir. Pre-Mahathir, leaders of BN component parties were treated with greater respect by Umno and their views taken more seriously. Today, these leaders dare not even stand up to the likes of Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, even though they knew very well that his keris antics had angered the non-Malay community. That corruption is rife today, the disintegration of the integrity of the judiciary and the neglect of the rural and urban poor as the government focused on ambitious projects that soaked up billions are all the consequences of 22 years of Mahathirism. Abdullah has been PM for only five years and it is unreasonable for anyone to expect him to fix deep-rooted problems that have been ingrained over 22 years. His mistake, of course, was that he over-promised the people in the 2004 election. And he did face resistance from powerful blocs. For example, the police top brass was against the setting up of a commission to investigate abuses in the force. But he has done a few good things, like setting up the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Lingam tape scandal, which confirmed what many have known for years - that, un- Let's hope history does not repeat itself Newly elected Jerlun MP Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir has written a letter dated March 12 to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi asking him to step down as Umno president and prime minister. Mukhriz appears to have taken a leaf from what his father did after Umno and the then Alliance did badly in the general election of 1969. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad wrote a letter demanding that Tunku Abdul Rahman resign as Umno president and prime minister. And like the letter from Mukhriz, which is now widely circulated on the Internet, Mahathir's was also widely distributed. The Umno Supreme Council sacked Mahathir from the party but the damage was done and a weakened Tunku retired not too long after that, paving the way for Tun Abdul Razak to take over. The rest, as they say, is history and Mahathir later returned to Umno and became party president and prime minister for 22 years. Let's hope that history does not repeat itself and Mahathir and son Mukhriz do not succeed in their move to oust Abdullah. To blame the anger of the people, as shown in the March 8 elections, on Abdullah is not right and fair. All the grouses that people have, especially the arrogance, bullying nature and antics of certain Umno leaders, from national level to division and branch, are legacies of 22 years of Mahathirism. It was under Mahathir that the role and power of parties like the MCA, MIC and Gerakan within the Barisan Nasional were curtailed. Power was centred on Umno and, in particular, Mahathir. Pre-Mahathir, leaders of BN component parties were treated with greater respect by Umno and their views taken more seriously. Today, these leaders dare not even stand up to the likes of Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, even though they knew very well that his keris antics had angered the non-Malay community. That corruption is rife today, the disintegration of the integrity of the judiciary and the neglect of the rural and urban poor as the government focused on ambitious projects that soaked up billions are all the consequences of 22 years of Mahathirism. Abdullah has been PM for only five years and it is unreasonable for anyone to expect him to fix deep-rooted problems that have been ingrained over 22 years. His mistake, of course, was that he over-promised the people in the 2004 election. And he did face resistance from powerful blocs. For example, the police top brass was against the setting up of a commission to investigate abuses in the force. But he has done a few good things, like setting up the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Lingam tape scandal, which confirmed what many have known for years - that, under Mahathir, his cronies tried to exert influence on judicial outcomes. If Mahathir were still in power, the Attorney-General would have declared that there was no case to investigate and the video would have been destroyed - like what happened to the sex video involving former Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker D P Vijandran in 1992. Under Mahathir, the views of civil society groups were brushed aside and they were often labelled as trouble-makers. In the last five years, Abdullah has promoted more openness as he attempted to shift the administration of the country away from the dictatorship of Mahathirism. Malaysians need to support Abdullah in these trying times. If he falls, the Mahathirites in Urn no would have won and the country could be headed down the slippery slope of more corruption, abuse of power and an even dirtier judiciary again.
