Accountability Qs for Dr. M

February 14, 2013

Accountability Q's for Dr M

by P Gunasegaram@http://www.malaysiakini.com

QUESTION TIME I became a publisher during a Business Times, afterwards a standalone newspaper, in 1978.Three years after in 1981 Dr Mahathir Mohamad became Prime Minister of Malaysia, a fourth, next Hussein Onn.

I have followed his career quite closely since as well as frankly we am not impressed. He started off with promise as well as promised a lot though over nothing if any. In fact we would go so far as to contend which he was definitely a worst Prime Minister this nation has ever had.

Through destruction of institutions such as an independent Judiciary, using roughshod over civil servants, bringing his code of power, clientele as well as bad economics in to preference creation as well as creation have make make use of of of of rough laws, he used an iron fist to order as well as in a routine brought some-more harm to this nation than any alternative person alive or dead.

Much of a problems of Malaysia can be traced behind to him as well as he has done it formidable for his successors to have vital changes going forward, much of which would rivet unwinding processes as well as linkages he had put in place before.

Mahathir, after he stepped down, questioned decisions taken by his successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. True to form, he never stopped inserted as well as systematically undermining Abdullah's reign by creation disparaging comments as well as organising gainsay opposite him.

Now he has admitted inflating voter rolls in Sabah during his reign by giving citizenship to bootleg! migrant s, justifying this by a autonomy agreement of 1957 which granted citizenship to migrant Chinese as well as Indians who came here during British rule.

And he has controversially called for a Barisan Nasional to be since dual thirds majority in Parliament so which they can devaluate a citizenship of BERSIH personality Ambiga Sreenevasan, a clear import being we can shift a constitution of a nation to take divided citizenship of any a single during will, as well as as if those who were since citizenship in 1957 as well as their descendants.

Questions to ponder on

In Jun 2006, three years after Mahathir stepped down, we wrote an article for The Edge, a weekly business newspaper where we worked then, titled '22 questions for Mahathir'. This fundamentally questioned Mahathir's caring by asking 22 groups of questions for each of 22 years he held energy as prime minister.

Considering all which Mahathir has said recently, here's a list of those 22 questions to ponder again though a strange unedited ones which were somewhat opposite as well as with minor revisions to take in to account recent developments.

You can decider for yourself what kind of Prime Minister he was as well as what kind of weight we should put on what he says.

1. On clean government. You came to energy in 1981 as well as introduced a aphorism 'Bersih, Cekap dan Amanah' (Clean, Efficient as well as Trustworthy) a following year. What did we do to further that?

Did we have a Anti-Corruption Agency some-more independent as well as effective? Did we safeguard which a Police did their pursuit properly as well as reduce crime in their ranks?

Did we safeguard which Ministers as well as Chief Ministers did not have income beyond their legal means? Did we have a Judicial complement some-more effective? Did we do things transparently? How many large guns were prosecuted for crime offences during your long tenure? What happened to "Bersih Cekap dan Amanah"(right)?

Tempurung of a opposite order

2. Press Freedom. While your complicated critique of a supervision underneath Abdullah as well as your ranting as well as ravings right divided get plenty of coverage in a internal media, during your time criticisms opposite we by dual former Prime Ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman as well as Hussein Onn were pale in a mainstream newspapers.

The other, Abdul Razak Hussein, stream Prime Minister Najib Razak's father, had upheld divided then. Editors in UMNO-linked newspapers, too, were private during your time for not toeing a line. What have we done to allege a means of thankful press freedom? Is it a judgment we believe in during all?

3. Proton. You went ahead with a inhabitant car project in 1983 notwithstanding a series of experts conflicting with you, generally with apply oneself to lack of economies of scale.

Why, generally when Proton's profit over a last 28 years came out of vastly higher prices which a Malays! ian open pays, ensuing in considerable hardship, generally to a poorer people who could not afford cars?

More lately, Proton has been taken over by a single of your tighten associates Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary's DRB-Hicom. DRB-Hicom's lack of imagination as well as economies of scale in car production promises one after another high prices for Proton cars which no doubt we will support as Proton adviser.

4. Heavy industries. Why did we push in to complicated industries such as steel as well as concrete in a eighties, ignoring studies which referred to building resource-based industries instead?

They caused vital problems as well as billions of ringgit in losses. The steel attention continues to be stable largely since of moves which we allowed during your reign as prime minister.

Consequences of thoughtless movement

5. Population. Why did we inspire a race of 70 million for Malaysia as well as shift a name of a National Family Planning Board to a National Population Development Board?

How do we expect bad people to take caring of five, six or some-more children? What kind of quality can they yield to their children? Is this not right divided reflected in farming misery as well as widening income gaps between a rich as well as a poor?

6. Immigration. Why did we concede hordes of people to immigrate, mainly from Indonesia, in an unregulated way such which there are as many or some-more bootleg immigrants than legal ones, right divided accounting for a small dual million or some-more people?

Did we not realise which this will means critical social problems as well as subdue a cost of Malaysian labour? Why did we give citizenship to thousands of them to lean a change of voting in Sabah? Where were your dignified standards?

7. On his initial Deputy. Some 5 years after we came to power, there were critical rifts between we as well as your Deputy (Tun) Musa Hitam. What was a means of these problems as well as is it since we were heavy-handed as well as did not deliberate your ministers?

8. On a initial critical UMNO split. When Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah as well as Musa took on we as well as Ghafar Baba during a UMNO General Assembly of 1987, it caused a critical separate in UMNO with we winning by a really narrow margin (761 to 718).

Why did we not seek to reanimate a rift in UMNO post a elections? Instead we purged UMNO as well as a inheritor UMNO Baru of those who opposite we causing an rare separate in Malay unity.

In 1987 were we not a personality with a least amount of support which UMNO had ever had? Were we not directly or indirectly thankful for a many critical separate in Malay unity?

9. Operation Lalang. Why did we have to resort to this pierce in October 1987, when we used wide powers of detention underneath a Internal Security Act to catch over 100 people, tighten down 4 newspapers as well as means a wave of fear throughout a country?

Was it to connect your gossamer reason on energy afterwards by using an rough law? You could have used your in front of as Barisan Nasional personality to defuse a racial tensions during a time over a appointment of non-Chinese educated headmasters to Chinese schools.

Ghost entity ruling a roost

10. UMNO Baru. You are of course aware which UMNO's scold ! name rig ht divided is UMNO Baru since a old UMNO was spoken bootleg by a courts in 1988.

Why did we not take steps to legalise UMNO? Is it since a arrangement of a brand new UMNO Baru done it easier to keep out members who opposite you?

And why did we amend rules to have it extremely formidable to challenge a obligatory President as well as Deputy President?

Was it to forestall any some-more hurdles to you? Didn't UMNO Baru turn less democratic as a result? Did we put in place measures to prolong your rule?

11. Judiciary. What was your motive in taking movement in 1988 to remove a Chief Justice as well as several Supreme Court judges from their positions underneath allegations of judicial misconduct, a pierce which was heavily criticised by a Bar Council as well as alternative bodies?

Is it since we needed some-more agreeable judges whose rulings will not threaten your in front of of energy in a series of cases in court? Was this a initial step in dismantling a judiciary's purpose as a check as well as change opposite a legislature as well as a executive?

What have we to contend to steady assertions by many, including distinguished ex-Chief Justices, who contend which this led to a wearing divided of judicial autonomy as well as viewed abuse of power?

Why did we not take any movement opposite a Chief Justice who had taken a holiday abroad with a small lawyers?

Responsible for preparation decline?

12. Education. You presided over a preparation complement during an important partial of a mutation initial as Education Minister in a seventies, afterwards as Prime Minister.

Would it be scold to surmise thus which we were thankful for a decrease during those year! s? Why d id we not spend some-more income as well as resources to safeguard which a preparation complement was excellent as well as one after another to urge though instead outlayed billions on alternative showpiece projects?

13. Former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin. Why did we give this a single male so much power, permitting him to decide on a award of virtually all supervision projects as well as tenders, as well as alternative projects?

14. Cronyism as well as Patronage. Did we not inspire cronyism as well as clientele by dishing out vital projects to a couple of within a middle circle, as well as generally continuous to Daim?

People such as Halim Saad (the Renong organisation toll roads, telecommunications etc), Tajuddin Ramli (mobile write TRI organisation as well as Malaysia Airlines), Amin Shah Omar (the failed PSC Industries multi-billion ringgit naval dockyard contracts), Ting Pek Khiing (Ekran a Bakun Dam) to mention just a few? Why did we not have make make use of of of open tenders as well as auctions?

15. Privatisation. Why did we concede privatisation to take place in such a manner which a many essential parts of supervision operation were since divided to cronies?

Toll roads had on hearing toll increases as well as compensation in a event traffic projections were not met. Independent energy producers had contracts which on hearing them increase during a responsibility Tenaga Nasional.

No pals in politics holds true

16. Ghafar Baba. Although Ghafar had a top series of votes between vice-presidents when Hussein Onn became P! rime Min ister in 1976, you, who got a lowest series of votes, were selected as Hussein's Deputy.

Yet when we called on Ghafar to be your deputy in 1987, he obliged, assisting we to win a UMNO presidency.

But we did small to behind him up when he was challenged for a deputy presidency in 1993 by Anwar Ibrahim. Can we contend which we stabbed him in a back?

17. Anwar Ibrahim. Did we pierce opposite him since he was a threat to your in front of in 1998?

Did we have make make use of of of a complete supervision machinery during your disposal to get him sentenced underneath trumped up charges of sodomy? Do we consider he got a satisfactory trial? Don't we consider a nation suffered terribly since of this energy struggle involving a dual of you?

18. Bank Negara losses. How could we tacitly inspire a executive bank, Bank Negara Malaysia to rivet in speculative trades, using as an forgive a need to strengthen unfamiliar sell reserves?

Bank Negara mislaid a small RM32 billion in 1993, according to a small accounts, as a outcome of taking positions in a unfamiliar sell market. In stream prices, using an normal inflation rate of 3.2% a year, which amounts to nearly RM60 billion!

19. KL International Airport. Was it really necessary to spend RM10 billion on a showpiece airfield during Sepang when a Subang airfield could have been so easily extended?

The airfield was operating way below genius for years as well as it substantially is today, fourteen years later, judging by a void during a small times during a day. The RM130 million low-cost terminal carries some-more passengers which a main terminal!

! 20. Putrajaya. What is a fact for spending RM20 billion on a grandiose supervision city during a time when office space was available in Kuala Lumpur? Could not a income be put to better have make make use of of of such as mending educational resources?

21. Government-linked companies (GLCs). Why did we not have efforts to urge a performance of GLCs?

Why did we concede supports such as a Employees Provident Fund as well as Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen to take up indeterminate investments to fundamentally assistance cronies out of their problems?

These have led to billions of ringgit in waste to these funds. Thankfully, there has been improvements in these areas after we left.

22. Don't we consider we owe it to a nation as well as a people to offer explanations over your 22-year reign which is replete with examples of incompetence, crime as well as cronyism, mismanagement as well as misallocation in a billions of ringgit as well as which has set a nation behind years?

Don't we think, some-more than any a single else, we deserve to be branded as a hypocrite to this nation for grossly abusing your in front of as Prime Minister?

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