Zahid, don’t blame others for BN’s defeat

 

Instead of blaming Dr Mahathir Mohamad for BN's loss in GE14, Zahid Hamidi should acknowledge the coalition's shortcomings throughout its time in power.

During a debate in the Dewan Rakyat on July 18, opposition leader Ahmad Zahid Hamidi claimed Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s legacy during his first tenure as prime minister had contributed to Barisan Nasional’s (BN) defeat in the May 9 polls.

Is Zahid aware that Mahathir left office in 2003? It has been 15 years since Mahathir wielded any real influence in government administration. In fact, when Najib Razak took over as prime minister, Mahathir allegedly complained that his suggestions were dismissed and that he was not allowed to visit key government personnel.

Any shortfalls in the BN administration, like in tackling racism, extremism, religious intolerance, and even more so-called mundane issues like children’s rights, women’s issues in the workplace, education, mat rempit, the perennial problem of too many graduates for too few jobs, picky graduates, poor command of English and the disparity in wealth could have been tackled in the intermediate period – but Zahid overlooked these and instead blamed Mahathir for BN’s loss.

Zahid claimed Mahathir had left a huge debt for both Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Najib to deal with. Is he aware that the 1MDB scandal, which has been linked with the nation’s RM1 trillion debt, started off as the Terengganu Investment Authority?

In 2008, Najib, who was deputy prime minister at the time, announced that the government had agreed to the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund to channel and manage oil royalty payments to Terengganu. The fund would kick off with RM10 billion of taxpayers’ money.

Two years later, then-opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim warned Malaysians that 1MDB could dwarf the Port Klang Free Zone scandal because the earnings, performance and audited accounts had not been made public even many months after they should have been released.

Zahid should realise that if Najib’s Cabinet had been performing and attending to the needs of the nation, the ministers would have questioned Najib on the lack of transparency in 1MDB.

He should also recall the manner in which former deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and former attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail were removed from office for asking questions about 1MDB. Gani only had a few months to go before retirement, but his office was sealed and he was removed, with the public told that he had resigned for health reasons.

DAP MP Tony Pua and Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown, who discussed these issues publicly either in talks or on their websites, were criticised. A travel ban was imposed on Pua while Rewcastle-Brown became persona non grata in Malaysia.

If Zahid needs reminding, the government under Najib was getting out of control. MPs and cronies were accused of milking taxpayers’ money for their own ends. They only promoted their own people, interests and agendas. Political appointees received several hundred thousand ringgit in monthly salaries and enjoyed many other perks, but the poor were given one-off payments of RM1,500 per year.

Land throughout Malaysia was sold at dirt cheap prices to companies, including companies from China. Why does the nation need several ports funded by China? How will we pay our debts? Or will our children be saddled with the repayments?

Zahid might also recall the palaver on the RM2.6 billion “donation” to Najib. Various Umno politicians offered excuses in an attempt to cover for him. Did it not worry Zahid that one of the reasons given was that Saudi Arabia wanted to “help” in the 13th general election? Wouldn’t this amount to foreign interference in our country’s internal affairs?

Zahid should look in the mirror and acknowledge the shortcomings of Umno/BN before placing the blame for BN’s electoral defeat on Mahathir.

Perhaps Zahid should blame the rakyat for daring to vote for Pakatan Harapan.

Mariam Mokhtar is an FMT columnist.