Mahathir happy only if his clone takes over: Ex-deputy

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s longest-serving leader, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, will not be satisfied until there is a clone of himself in the seat of power, said former Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam.

Mr Musa said this in reference to Dr Mahathir’s recent outburst against the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak. Mr Musa, who was Deputy Prime Minister from 1981 to 1986, said Dr Mahathir had not been happy with any sitting leader since he left public office in 2003.

“He will be satisfied only if there is a Mahathir clone who becomes the top leader in Malaysia,” Mr Musa told The Malaysian Insider in an exclusive interview this week.

He was commenting on Dr Mahathir’s decision last week to withdraw support for Mr Najib’s government. In a post on his popular blog, Dr Mahathir offered wide-ranging criticism of Mr Najib’s decisions, saying he had chosen to make his stand public as the concerns he had raised with Mr Najib had fallen on deaf ears.

“Many policies, approaches and actions taken by the government under Najib have destroyed interracial ties, the economy and the country’s finances,” he wrote. Among the issues he listed were the abolishment of the Internal Security Act, Mr Najib’s “humble” attitude towards neighbouring countries that he said had left Malaysia’s domestic affairs subject to their views, and the use of government money to gain support from the people each time there was an election.

Dr Mahathir also said Mr Najib was no better than former Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whom Dr Mahathir had chosen as his successor, but with whom he later had a public falling-out.

Dr Mahathir was Prime Minister from 1981 until he retired in 2003.

Mr Musa, 80, left the government in 1986 after resigning over differences with Dr Mahathir. The following year, he teamed up with his then political foe and former Finance Minister, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, to take on Dr Mahathir and the late Ghafar Baba, then a Deputy Prime Minister and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) vice-president, for the party leadership.

Dr Mahathir defeated Mr Razaleigh by 43 votes, while Mr Musa failed to retain his post by a similar margin. While Mr Razaleigh went on to form the now-defunct breakaway UMNO party Semangat 46, Mr Musa has remained in UMNO.

“Look at all the deputies who served during Dr Mahathir’s 22 years in office. I was considered dangerous. Tun Ghafar Baba (who served in office from 1986 to 1993) was considered all right, loyal. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (who served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998) was considered a terrible fellow. He was said to have been disloyal and alleged to have done this and that. Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (who served between 1999 and 2003) was such a nice guy,” Mr Musa said.

Despite Dr Mahathir’s strong and open criticism against Mr Najib, UMNO leaders have so far been mainly cautious and quiet about their response to Dr Mahathir. Mr Najib is currently president of UMNO.

Mr Musa said there was a sense of insecurity and lack of direction among UMNO members that he said had been caused by Dr Mahathir’s comments and criticism.

“Malaysia is a practising democratic country with certain limitations. It may not be perfect but UMNO must learn how to handle it,” he said.

“So far, it has been good. Despite criticism, Najib has kept his cool and has not cracked. Dr Mahathir has never faced the kind of criticism that Najib has faced,” he added. AGENCIES