COMMENT I am probably one of the many fierce critics who were throwing brickbats at former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he started attacking his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

To have me coming out openly in defence of the nonagenarian, especially during the current political climate, is therefore unthinkable.

But I choose to stand up for this one man who has allegedly destroyed the country’s institutions one by one, when he was both president of Umno and the chairperson of Barisan Nasional.

One only has to read Barry Wain’s book, ‘Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times’ to know how millions of ringgit had gone into a black hole due to a number of failed mega projects. Instead of being able to generate income in return for the money pumped into these projects, they are either like Perwaja and Proton, which lost a lot of money, or remain as unproductive, ‘nice to behold’ projects that cost millions every year to maintain.

Buildings in Putrajaya, for example, are like big white elephants, which are highly inefficient in terms of just cooling down the buildings. The Petronas Twin Towers may have placed Malaysia on the world map, but they are unlikely to generate income for the petroleum giant.

Despite privatisation, the government that Mahathir and his successors run is not any more efficient. In fact, it has gone from bad to worse in recent years under the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, with Najib even having the cheek to say that the country would have gone bust had it not been for the timely implementation of the Goods and Services Taxes (GST).

Out of Umno makes a great difference

However, as he is no longer in Umno, I believe that Mahathir is able now to see with better perspective what kind of legacy he created in his 22 years in power. At least, he is out to redeem his own reputation.

I therefore welcome Mahathir’s attempt to save Malaysia from Najib and Umno. Out of respect for his seniority, he may be the key person in the Save Malaysia movement, but it does not mean that the agenda set by both the opposition under de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, and the civil society movement. would be derailed the moment Mahathir defects to Umno.

Ideally, Mahathir should forget about removing Najib with the hope of re-entering Umno, the way he did with Abdullah. Najib should be removed as prime minister, but at the same time, unless the regime is also removed, the country will continue to go down the drain.

With Mahathir’s new political party, it is not going to be easy to convince both Pakatan supporters and the fence-sitters to vote for his party. People would be wary that after Najib steps down, Mahathir may disband his party and make return to Umno.

Pakatan supporters will be unlikely to vote for a new party under Mahathir. Civil society will also not support the new party due to the past record of its leaders when they were in Umno.

Mukhriz Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin and Shafie Apdal, for example, can continue to stand in their own constituencies with the hope of locking these three constituencies from BN, but in other constituencies, the new political party should not be placing candidates in another three-cornered fight.

It will only work to the advantage of Barisan Nasional and Najib will not be removed. In exchange for opening the eyes of the rural Malays and ensuring a Pakatan victory, these Umno rebels should be compensated sufficiently by recruiting them into key ministerial positions to work towards saving Malaysia.

From now on, Mahathir should only focus on appealing to his supporters, especially amongst the rural Malays, to vote for Pakatan Harapan in all other constituencies, in order to ensure a victory in the next general election.

He can play a big role in opening the eyes of thousands, if not millions, of Malay folks who have been sidelined under the current regime. In helping Pakatan, he is ensuring that his ultimate goal of removing Najib could finally materialise.

Credit to whom credit is due

Having put things in place, I would say I still respect Mahathir for what he is hoping to achieve. Although into his nineties, he is still a fighter.

It was also during Mahathir’s rule that Malaysia was one of the four Asian tigers. What a big contrast we have now with Najib at the helm, and with the country in the midst of a major financial scandal that has rocked the world.

Mahathir was effective in implementing his policies and cabinet ministers were responding to the people’s complaints. But with the present cabinet ministers, public interest is allegedly not on their minds.

For example, I have highlighted the tragic death of the late Yong Chee Seng after his car plunged into a 12m-deep sewer in Jalan Gasing, and despite pinpointing the current Human Resources Minister, Richard Riot, we have not heard any feedback on the outcome of the investigation by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health.

People living in Cameron Highlands have raised concerns about the frequency of landslides, but actions have been found wanting.

For a number of years, the National Housebuyers’ Association has been campaigning for the build-then-sell concept to be implemented, but till today, none of the ministers in charge of housing and local government have taken it up.

During Mahathir’s time, we had only a few ‘clowns’, but today, there are simply too many of them around making all kinds of comments and implementing policies that turn the people against them. Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s new parking policy is just one that has become the talk of the town!

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.