'Democracy may do more harm'
By Sa'odah EliasDUBAI: Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad cautioned Muslim countries against hastily embracing democracy, saying that the system could do more harm than what they are practising now.
The Prime Minister said democracy today did not work even in the most experienced democracies of the West because money, not the will of the majority, determines who sits in the chief executive's chair.
Dr Mahathir said this in his keynote address before about 450 participants of the Emirates International Forum here, yesterday.
This is the second time he has been invited to deliver a keynote address at the forum, which was set up eight years go. He first addressed the gathering three years ago.
Outlining the role of Muslim nations in the 21st century, Dr Mahathir touched on democracy at length.Democracy, said Dr Mahathir, is flawed.
"What started as a system where the majority rules, is now being used as a tool by some to promote the rights of the minority and even the rights of individuals,'' he said.
"Today, we are seeing the minority and individuals ignoring the rights of the majority. Their democracy has become immoral and oppressive to the majority.
"Political parties mushroom and use bribery, corruption, threats and economic disruptions in order to fight each other. Development cannot take place as everything is politicised,'' he added.
The energy and the wealth of the nation, he said, was wasted in political in-fighting among numerous political parties, set up for nothing more than to further the ambition of various aspirants for the highest post in the country.
The Prime Minister said there was no quick fixes for the Muslim countries, plagued with many problems, except to go back to the true teachings of the religion and to rationally set out long-term plans for their future.
He said under a good honest leader--be he a king, prime minister or president--and helped by advisers and experts, a country could develop to become stable, peaceful, wealthy and fully able to compete in every field.
The Prime Minister said when the Muslim countries succeed in establishing good governments and developing themselves, they should be prepared to help all poor countries and not only poor Muslim countries.
He said if the Muslims were to follow the true teachings of Islam on the need to be able to defend themselves, one cannot but agree on the need to acquire knowledge in all fields to ensure the well-being of the Muslims and the safety of their countries.
Muslim countries, he said, must also seek to play a bigger role in world affairs in the 21st century so that they could be partners in the building of a better world.
Later, at a dialogue, Dr Mahathir said his stand on democracy should not be misinterpreted as advocating dictatorship but a view that countries should be allowed to choose the system that suit them best according to their individual situation.
Replying to a barrage of questions from the floor arising from his keynote address, Dr Mahathir stated that he was also not totally against dictatorship.
"In fact, democracy should be ruled by dictator--semi-clean dictator because a clean dictator is not possible''' he said in jest.
Dr Mahathir said in the absence of better alternative, the best form of democracy was when it was practised in moderation and for some countries new to it, a multi-tiered system would be most suitable.
Responding to a question on the groundswell of political support for Islamic theologians in many Muslim countries, Dr Mahathir said that was the result of mixing religion with personal ambition.
He said many ulamas had found it was politically beneficial for them to use narrow interpretation of Islam to gain status, respect and in some cases power.
This influence, he said, could be countered by reasoning with the people using the same means employed by the ulamas _ Quran and hadis.
At a press conference later, Dr Mahathir said Muslim nations should speak as one voice against the Jewish aggression in Palestine so that the world would take note and applied pressure against the aggressor.
"There are many non-Muslim countries which are on our side. If we are united in facing this issue there will be a greater chance that we will succeed,'' he added.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2001/4/27/nation/2704odar&sec=nation
