Hundreds cheer Dr Mahathir during biting speech on Najib

KUALA LUMPUR — More than 1,000 people, including civil servants and civil society leaders, showed that Dr Mahathir Mohamad was not “alone” when they cheered the former prime minister on in his two-hour meet-the-people session at a club in Kuala Lumpur this morning (April 25).

This was the first time Dr Mahathir took his attacks against Mr Najib Razak to the grassroots level, after earlier lampooning the prime minister in his blog and urging him to leave office.

The shouts and cheers from the crowd which had gathered as early as 8.30am began as Dr Mahathir stepped out of his vehicle at the K Klub and continued as the statesman walked the 50m aisle to the stage.

He was flanked by two controversial figures: Lecturer Dr Ridhuan Tee Abdullah and Mr Ibrahim Ali, president of Perkasa, which was also one of the groups that organised the forum.

Also spotted were former law minister Zaid Ibrahim, former Selangor chief minister Muhammad Muhd Taib, and former health director-general Dr Ismail Merican, who is part of the G25 group.

After a brief speech by Dr Ridhuan, Dr Mahathir took on the podium and the riveted crowd, made up of older people of different races, who clung on to every word the retired statesman said, as he touched on a myriad of issues but concentrated on criticising Mr Najib’s leadership of the country.

He spoke for an hour about the debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), businessman Jho Low, his respect for Mr Abdul Razak, Najib’s daughter’s lavish wedding reception and many more that left the crowd dazed.

They were responsive to his speech, cheering every time he called for Mr Najib to step down as prime minister and laughing at his wit and sarcasm.

The crowd also could not wait to begin asking him questions on the issues he had raised about Mr Najib, his administration and policies that have not set well with the people, including about the goods and services tax.

This was evident with the number of those who clamoured to the microphone, hoping for a chance to address the influential former premier and hear him answer their query.

One man asked Dr Mahathir what he thought of the GST, which the government had introduced as a solution to its depleting funds.

“I think they should just abolish it,” Dr Mahathir replied.

“If they wanted to add on the sales and services tax, that would have been alright but to introduce a system that even the officers are not sure about... it is a bit too much.”

When asked if he would be willing to give the prime ministerial role another shot, he lamented that his time had passed.

“I admit it is hard. My time is over. But if they want my opinion, then it’s all right,” he said, much to the disappointment of the crowd.

Dr Mahathir, who had only last week lamented that he felt as if he were alone in his quest for answers over various issues he had raised, was swarmed by the crowd.

He also took digs at Mr Najib on this who had suggested he was not alone in leading the country.

Dr Mahathir alleged that all show of confidence towards the Mr Najib administration was staged.

“They say ‘I support PM’. When there is an event they sing the IM4U song. But is that real support?

“They can be paid to say those things. They may say it because they are afraid to lose their allowances or lose their positions. We will never know,” he said.

“But even so, he says ‘I am not alone’,” he added.

Despite the crowd, diehard Dr Mahathir supporters pushed their way through the mob in order to get his autograph and a selfie with him.

Observers commented that only few people commanded such overwhelming reception, not even Mr Najib, despite the tremendous support he had received from UMNO members over the last week after Dr Mahathir’s criticism. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER