Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad said politicians who could not stand criticism
should not remain in politics. He was taking a swipe at actions by Najib’s
supporters and his government lately. “Being cursed, being called names, being
accused of corruption or nepotism, being asked to step down, having your portraits
being torn down” and other actions were “all to be expected”, he said.
Even the government must expect to be criticised and face
rabble-rousing, but action could only be taken if laws were breached. “And
that, too, according to due process of law, not just if the committee of the
party in power decides,” he said.
He claimed today that
he had never taken action against his critics and detractors despite the many
insults and derogatory terms used against him.
“I was called all kinds of names… firaun or pharoah,
mahazalim, dictator, you name it, just anything derogatory or insulting or
demeaning, and I have had it,” he said in a blog posting.
Several police investigations have been carried out against
Dr Mahathir for a series of allegations he has made against the government of
Umno president and Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Dr Mahathir’s supporters such as former Umno divisional
leader Khairuddin Hassan and lawyer Matthias Chang were detained by police
earlier this year for investigations on suspicion of carrying out economic
sabotage when they were about to go overseas to file reports against the Najib
government and 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
The former premier made no direct reference to these, but
said that during his time in power he had not taken action against critics. “I
did not threaten them, I did not ask the police to question them, I did not
arrest, detain and charge them for being terrorists, for sabotaging Malaysia’s
banking system, sabotaging Malaysia’s economy. And I did not threaten to sue
them, nor did I sue them,” he said.
Dr Mahathir pointed out that everyone was equal before the
law and “there should be no exemption or privilege for those in power”
In an indirect reference to the corruption charge against
Lim Guan Eng, he said those who “openly buy votes” were not charged but other
people, accused of corruption on much smaller scale, were promptly arrested and
committed to trial.
“Admittedly the law must apply even if the crime is small.
But when big crimes are allowed to go free simply because the person says he is
innocent, we must question whether the laws are equally applicable to all,” he
said.
Source -FMT-
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