VOXPOP 'Mahathir is not senile nor stupid. Whatever he writes always has an objective and he says what Najib cannot say.'

Opposition 'violence': Mahathir must be blind

Cala: What kind of a politician he is? As a former prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad's place in history has been cast in stone.

He will be remember as a man who did little good, but plenty of harm to this inefficiently-run Third World state.

Author Barry Wain summarised the traits of his target of research this way: "But in mixing business and politics, Mahathir encouraged cronyism and failed to prevent the spread of corruption.

"Authoritarian and impatient, he jailed opponents, sacked rivals and undermined institutions as he pursued his obsession with development."

If I may add, Wain has been kind to Mahathir. What development under Mahathir deserves our applause?

Anonymous #36621091: TDM (Tun Dr Mahathir) should not be discounted as his statements carry weight among those who still believe news in the mainstream media and there are plenty out there who do.

This statement is cleverly orchestrated to instill fear among the fence-sitters and undecided BN voters to vote for stability as the other option is anarchy. The more opposition supporters demonstrate and are seen as unruly, the more this is played up in the press.

TDM is not senile nor stupid. Whatever he writes always has an objective and he says what PM Najib Razak cannot say.

Those who do not follow alternative media will just lap it up as TDM's view reinforces the official BN line of 22,000 crowd at Bersih 3.0, and the plot to overthrow the government, the Marxist elements, police officers being beaten, etc.

They are pulling out all the stops and using every trick in the book to influence those without access or interest to the alternative media and the Internet.

Anonymous_4056: Mahathir, how could you be so blind and deaf not to know that Umno and Perkasa are causing violence by disrupting opposition ceramah all over the country yet you seem to be oblivious to all this?

What kind of a senior statesman are you? Why are you so lopsided or skewed in your view?

Anonymous #55961902: It is not that the master of politics did not see what is happening, and who the aggressors and the victims are. He is always good at playing the blame game and he thinks people can't judge for themselves.

Tekee: Perversity is not blindness. It is simply evil!

Counter-ceramah invites trouble, laments ex-IGP

Anonymous_3f4a: What utter rubbish for former inspector-general of police Musa Hassan to blame the fracas on opposing ceramah being held too close to each another, but not the 'perpetrators' of the violence.

It's akin to blaming the 'victim' of a rape case for wearing sexy cloths instead of the 'rapist' - what logic is that?

Mind you, the violence seen in Lembah Pantai and elsewhere of late is due to the state-sponsored thuggery politics of Umno-BN.

To hear Mahathir blaming Bersih 3.0 for the violence is to add salt to injury, an insult to our intelligence.

Ferdtan: Musa's opinion is not important as he has been biased on many occasions to support the government's unjust actions.

His tacit support of the police's excessive actions against the rally participants, and making adverse comments of the recent Bersih 3.0 rally, are one of the typical examples.

"Don't do it nearby, if you do it nearby, then that (clashes) will happen," he said.

However, he didn't add that Pakatan cannot do anything about it when Umno deliberately followed Pakatan ceramahs everywhere.

The police could have put a stop to it by not giving them the required permit, but obviously they didn't or dare to do so.

That's what the police have come to. The lawless have taken over and the police just watched.

Gobsmacked : Very often when PKR has a ceramah involving Anwar Ibrahim, Umno has one nearby featuring Ummi Hafilda. Isn't this provocation of the lowest order?

The police were found wanting in the case of Lembah Pantai. They were there but they allowed the Umno supporters to continue their chanting and provocative actions.

There was no report of any arrests made. Is this because the police is really the militant arm of Umno? One can't help wondering. Umno opponents easily get arrested whereas Umno supporters are never touched despite violent behaviour.

We need to see the police as independent, highly professional and capable of keeping order. We are not seeing this at all in last Thursday's Lembah Pantai event and in so many recent events like in Merlimau , the anti-Bersih protests outside Bersih co-chief S Ambiga's house, Bersih 3.0, the incident involving MIC outside the Home Ministry and so many ceramah that were disrupted by Umno goons.

Can one wonder why so many Malaysians are in support of Bersih?

James1067 : If the police do their job and stop taking sides, these incidents will not happen. Please stop giving excuses and trying to find something or someone to blame. The blame falls completely on the police's lack of enforcement and their playing of political games.

Dood: Musa Hassan said, "How can we call ourselves a peaceful nation if even ceramah need police to be guarding."

Oh, forgive me for thinking that it is part of the police's job to keep the peace.

Also, I was thinking the quote would be more accurate if it was phrased: "How can we call ourselves a peaceful nation if even the rakyat need protection from the police."

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