Rojak and Cocktail: Bridge over troubled water ?

It’s final – no scenic bridge

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has rightly rejected Tun Dr. Mahathir Mahathir’s proposal to build the RM1.1 billion crooked half bridge in Johore as quid-pro-quo for his stop criticizing the government, as there can be no national, regional or international justification to revive an engineering monstrosity which was being passed off at one time as “one of the new wonders of the world”.

The Government will not budge from its decision to scrap the scenic bridge project, says Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The Prime Minister said the decision was made in the interest of the people and after discussions in the Cabinet.

Abdullah was commenting on former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s statement that he would stop making remarks if the bridge across the Johor Strait was built.

“He can say anything but I am the prime minister and I have a job to do.

“Once a decision is made, it is made,” he told newsmen after launching the MSC Cyberport Johor here yesterday.

Cyberport, Johor's equivalent of Cyberjaya, hopes to attract some 200 local and foreign companies with investments worth RM400mil within the next year.

Asked whether there was a possibility that the bridge project would be revived later, Abdullah just kept quiet and shook his head indicating “no”.

On whether issues regarding Dr Mahathir were raised during a closed-door meeting with Johor Umno leaders held earlier in the day, Abdullah said several questions were raised but after the discussions he did not think any new issues would be brought up by the state Umno.

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News Focus: Incredulous. Strange. Blackmail. Unrealistic. Inappropriate.

Any of these words would have summed up what ministers and politicians felt about Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s offer to end his tirade against the current government if it agrees to build a bridge to Singapore. Below is what they have to say.

* Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that going ahead with the plan to build a half-bridge would invite problems for the country.

"The Cabinet has decided that we will not go ahead with the construction of the bridge. Not because we simply want to cancel it, but because the problems are complicated.

"Going ahead with the construction of the bridge would be going against international law and would also contravene the water agreement with Singapore."

The Attorney-General in his advice to the Government had noted that Singapore’s approval would have to be sought before water pipes on the Causeway are removed. Therefore, any move by Malaysia to unilaterally remove the pipes while constructing a new bridge would be illegal.

Commenting on Dr Mahathir’s statement that he was prepared to swear by the Quran to prove that Malaysia offered to sell sand to Singapore, Najib said the former prime minister should furnish such proof if he had any.

"We have to look at the proof first. If Tun Dr Mahathir is afraid to provide such proof out of fear of the OSA (Official Secrets Act), he could submit it to the Government."

Dr Mahathir, in his speech at the Petaling Jaya Utara Umno divisional meeting, had claimed that he had proof of Malaysia’s offer to sell sand to the island republic.

Najib said despite whatever claim made by Dr Mahathir, the Government was still firm on its stand that the offer was made by Singapore.

"The sale of sand did not materialise. This is purely academic. The Government had decided not to sell the sand nor give the rights over air space."

* Umno supreme council member Datuk Mohd Ali Rustam
said that it was inappropriate for Dr Mahathir to issue any ultimatum. "The Government has made a decision on the bridge and explained the rationale time and time again. Malaysia will not gain anything if the bridge is built," he said.

The Malacca Chief Minister said that the Government had spent too much time answering all the allegations hurled against it by the former prime minister.

* Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Mahdzir Khalid described Dr Mahathir’s quid pro quo as unfair. "The Cabinet, the highest decision-making body of the Government has decided against it and the decision has been accepted by the people. It is unfair for Dr Mahathir to demand that the Government rescind that decision ...The decision to abort building the bridge was based on facts and adequate information," he said.

* Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob said that Dr Mahathir was asking for the impossible to be done. He noted that the Cabinet had already made a decision to abort the bridge plan after lengthy discussions. Quoting a Malay proverb, he said expecting the Government to reverse the decision would be like menunggu kucing bertanduk (waiting for a cat to grow horns).

* Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik had only one question when asked to comment on Dr Mahathir’s offer for a truce. "How can we change our decision just to suit one man’s demand?" The veteran minister said that the Government had made a firm decision on the bridge and he did not think that it was likely to be reversed.
(Source:NST)

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Mahathir fights to protect legacy

A long-brewing row between Malaysia's former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his chosen successor, Abdullah Badawi, appears to be coming to a head, the BBC's Jonathan Kent writes.

The joke doing the rounds in Malaysia at the moment is that Mahathir Mohamad is suffering from PPMS - Post Prime Ministerial Syndrome.

The symptoms, say the wags, include irritability, emotional outbursts and a tendency to criticise everything and everyone.

When he retired in October 2003 he promised not to interfere in government. But in the last year Dr Mahathir has trained his famously acerbic tongue on his former colleagues, including the man he chose to be his successor, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"There must be issues that really provoke him," says A. Kadir Jasin, former editor of the New Straits Times newspaper group.

"Those four issues are the sudden rise in the number of import permits for cars which he claimed affected the national car project, Proton; the sale of a motorcycle company by Proton, the removal of Proton's chief executive and the cancellation of the bridge to Singapore," Mr Kadir believes.

'The limit'

The common thread between all these issues is that of Mahathir's legacy.

For more than two decades he single-mindedly drove Malaysia towards industrial development through a combination of large scale state intervention (such as launching pet projects like Proton) and by building a coterie of favoured businessmen to whom were handed government projects and lucrative monopolies. In the process he won a legion of admirers around the developing world.

Abdullah Badawi broke with Dr Mahathir's penchant for mega-projects to concentrate on problems like rural poverty and education while rebuilding institutions debased during his predecessor's tenure - the police, the judiciary and the civil service.

Matters started to come to a head in May after the government abandoned plans for a new bridge to Singapore - a project Dr Mahathir had championed when he was in office - on the grounds that it might contravene international law.

"This is the limit," Dr Mahathir declared then. "To surrender your sovereignty to Singapore as if you are scared of them... This is a 'half past six country' with no guts."

By June he had ratcheted up the rhetoric, announcing publicly that he regretted appointing Mr Abdullah as his successor.

"I have helped many people up only for them to stab me in the back," Dr Mahathir said. "I'm in the habit of choosing the wrong people."

TV response

By the beginning of August a whispering campaign against members of Abdullah Badawi's immediate family had gathered momentum. Dr Mahathir, telling reporters he was in fear of being arrested, alleged that Mr Abdullah's son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, was handing out government contracts and determining policy.

After months of resolutely refusing to be drawn, Mr Abdullah went on national television to confront his detractors. "I chose to keep quiet because I didn't want to quarrel with [Dr Mahathir] in the newspaper," he said, and defended his family.

His son, Kamaluddin Abdullah, whose company Scomi was caught up in the nuclear technology for Libya scandal, has made a fortune in the oil industry.

"Kamal has never used his relationship with me to advance in business," said his father.

As for his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, Mr Abdullah countered: "People say I do the things as Khairy says. There is no such thing."

That did not silence Dr Mahathir. "There are several... things which I will come out with, one at a time, [including] evidence of corruption," he told a news conference last week, as he dismissed Mr Abdullah's response.

"All he was saying was that 'I'm a good man... I'm a religious man, I wouldn't do this'. But specific answers, there were none," Dr Mahathir said.

'Not protected'

The expression often used to describe the smoke and mirrors of Malaysian politics is wayang kulit, shadow puppetry.

"It's the politics of patronage and power - it's about the control of money and the control of power, that is the root of the problem," said P. Gunasegaram, of The Edge, an independent and outspoken business weekly.

R. Sivarasa, a prominent human rights lawyer and vice-president of the opposition National Justice Party, agrees that it is about legacy in the widest sense.

Because although Dr Mahathir is casting aspersions about his successor, of the two men he is the far more ready target - not least over the issue of state funds being used to bail out one of his sons' companies during the August 1997 financial crisis.

"The root of the dispute is about Mahathir needing to act to prevent too much of his past unravelling, leaving him possibly open to prosecution," Mr Sivarasa said. "He needed to see the system absolutely under control, even after his departure. He's now realised that Abdullah is not protecting him and he's now moving for a solution."

Come November, Abdullah Badawi will face the only people who can unseat him; the 2,500 delegates to the annual general assembly of his United Malays National Organisation (UMNO).

There are many in the party frustrated that Mr Abdullah has reduced the flow of government contracts that oil its political wheels. But in Mr Abdullah's favour is the party's feudal loyalty to its leader - which may count for even more than money when the time comes to vote.

"He's got the power of incumbency and if you look at the history of UMNO politics, no-one has managed to unseat an incumbent," Mr Gunasegaran said.

If Mr Abdullah survives November's party assembly, Dr Mahathir might indeed find his world unravelling. For he may be judged to have made his move and failed. And as the old adage has it, if you move to strike the king strike well, for if he lives he will have your head.

(Source:BBC)