COMMENT Dr Mahathir Mohamad has claimed that Mahathirism is a figment of Lim Kit Siang’s imagination and that the type of leadership associated with his 22 years as prime minister is really dead and gone.

At first, one cannot help but take Mahathir’s comments with a pinch of salt but almost immediately, premier Najib Abdul Razak makes a speech to civil servants about his reform efforts and endorses what Mahathir said.