your say Would you believe that Dr Mahathir Mohamad, while he was the prime minister, could not abolish the Internal Security Act at the time he was so powerful that he succeeded in removing some top senior judges during the judiciary crisis?

Dr M: Cops stopped me from scrapping ISA

Pusphalatha Muniandy: He uses the ISA as one of his lethal weapons when he faces adversaries, but now he says he intended to abolish the ISA. What a joke. Operasi Lalang was in 1987, after that he was in power until 2003. If he was serious about abolishing the ISA, he had plenty of time, and power, to do.

cala: To me, there is no necessity to worry about whether Dr M is telling us the truth. Let us say 50 years after Dr M has left this world, one can use skills/instruments from economic history (under new institutional economics) to determine his role in ISA.

How? As an example, one can study the many Acts/laws limiting freedom of expression passed in Parliament after ‘Operasi Lalang' that bears Dr M's mark and the effects on economic performance (of course not to forget Dr M signed on documents that extended initial detention, as pointed out by Uncle Lim).

Another example, the regime's human rights index over the next 20 years after the said operation. One more, what about correspondence between Dr M and other foreign leaders on the same subject?

What about the many reports from foreign missions based in KL sent to their home countries? What about the biographies and autobiographies of detainees on this subject that would appear after Dr M has left this world, etc?

Anonymous_3e86: I wonder who was running the country then... the police or him? ISA if used as intended would have been good for the country's security then. Instead, it was abused by him to kill off his political opponents.

Tan Teng Wah: Just what message is he trying to convey? Or is it sheer lies or utter rubbish? An old man who still wants to spend his time hogging the limelight, even when the end is near. Well, it seems the best way to treat an intolerable bloke is to ignore him entirely.

Keturunan Malaysia:

Yes, Hanif, please do speak up. There were only two of you in the kitchen and we ate the bad food you cooked, and we're still eating them. Dr M is saying that's not the food he wanted to cook, so you must be the one. If yes, give us good enough reasons to bite, swallow and digest!!

Amaso: Would you believe that Dr Mahathir, while he was the prime minister, could not abolish the ISA at the time he was so powerful that he succeeded in removing some top senior judges during the judiciary crisis?

4thForce:

Reading from reports written by the Malaysiakini writers in the past, it is easy to get worked up over issues of public interest. But I attended this forum to get firsthand views of the panel members that were invited to speak.

And I compare this report here with what I've heard. My conclusion is, this reporting seems biased. Why not also highlight ex-IGP Hanif Omar's views on the matter, as he was also one of the panel members?

He explained in great detail the circumstances surrounding the Operasi Lalang event and when he was about to retire from the police force and also his advice to Dr M. For me, with this experience, I'm going to be more careful reading Malaysiakini reports. That's my lesson today.

docs: Looks like Dr M has targeted the cops now, to blame for his blunders when he was in power. I think Dr M should call this "Ops Ketuk Polis".

I'm sure that George Soros will be glad to be given a small reprieve by Dr M, who was his regular punching bag for Dr M's failed political policies.

Dev

: Well, well, well... looks more and more like we were living under the police rule all these years. Wouldn't it be funny if George Bush said that he SO badly wanted to close down the Guantanamo Bay detention centre, but the police didn't allow him to do so?

My God, our old prime minister at the hands of the police chief? I'm sure after this, the former IGP will issue another statement to support this.

So, what else did the police prevent you from doing, Che Det? With all these revelations, why didn't you just hand over the state to the police chief? Based on what you say, it's quite clear you had no power to overrule them. RIDICULOUS!

ABIL: Why lah, Tun, at this ripe age you need to lie to the whole world? You were advocating ISA from the start and deriving your strength on this Act for your draconian action against the opposition. You must be truthful now that we all will meet our maker. Peace be on you.

Kyw : Who is the Boss - the police chief or Dr M? If the police control the PM, no wonder it becomes a police state!

Changeagent: It is becoming rather clear what the cunning Mahathir is trying to achieve here. With the sodomy II trial and RCI for TBH's death both in real danger of descending into complete farce, he is doing his best to divert some unwanted attention away so that the public can be distracted from realising how blatantly incompetent and evil our judicial system really is.

Toffeesturn : I like his memory of convenience. He has forgotten the opposition leader he spoke to, he says, he thinks it is Lim Kit Siang, no it wasn't he knows the person, yes it's true he spoke to a DAP leader, that was no secret, and he knows the DAP leader. I have a clue for him.

ala: Do you trust him? Dr M is trying to solicit whatever little that is left about his credibility. Let us see how he measures up to the four "conditions of trust" (Wikipedia, 2011):

i) the willingness of one party (trustor) to be vulnerable to the actions of another party (trustee);

ii) reasonable expectation (confidence) of the trustor that the trustee will behave in a way beneficial to the trustor;

iii) risk of harm to the trustor if the trustee will not behave accordingly; and

iv) the absence of trustor's enforcement or control over actions performed by the trustee.

First, no one in his right mind will treat him seriously worthy of any trust, as his 22 years of record as PM shows.

Second, his often non-logical remarks about past events are signs of a person not keen to keep a reputation.

Third, the potential misplaced trust on the trustor is indeed high.

Fourth, practically zero enforcement is on the trustor's side, hence a high risk premium. Dr M fails his test on every "condition".

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