Mahathir Says Malaysia Gripped by Fear, Justifies His Attacks
Mahathir Says Malaysia Gripped by Fear, Justifies His Attacks
By Angus Whitley - Bloomberg
Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad said ``fear'' is gripping the country as he sought to explain months of criticism he has aimed at his successor, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
In an open letter addressed to ``Citizens of Malaysia,'' published first on the Internet and then in newspapers, Mahathir said that he alone was able to criticize the prime minister. He repeated accusations that the government doesn't tolerate dissent from any member of the ruling United Malays National Organization party.
``No one dares to comment, criticize or oppose anything that is done by the Prime -Minister,'' Mahathir wrote. ``A climate of fear has enveloped this country. I have to voice my criticisms.'' He signed his Oct. 27 letter as ``A Malaysian Citizen and Commoner.''
The attacks from Mahathir, who led Malaysia from 1981 to 2003, stem from Abdullah's reversal of some investment decisions made under the former premier, in favor of more education and health-care spending. Abdullah, after meeting Mahathir for two hours in private last week, has described the continuing attacks from the ex-premier as ``doses of venom.''
Mahathir, who told reporters on Oct. 23 that Malaysia had become a police state, in his letter said the mainstream media wasn't allowed to criticize the prime minister. The New Straits Times published his letter on the front page of today's edition.
Kamal Khalid, a spokesman for the prime minister's office, said today that Abdullah views the claim that Malaysia is a police state as ``a false assertion.'' The prime minister won't be responding to Mahathir's letter, he said.
Former Malaysia PM Says Family Harassed
The New York Times
Malaysia's outspoken former prime minister says his relatives are being harassed and intimidated by his hand-picked successor as their bitter, personal feud reached new levels this week.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Mahathir Mohamad said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has fostered ''a climate of fear'' against those daring to criticize his leadership.
The 82-year-old politician has accused Abdullah of corruption, nepotism and running a police state.
''I am taking a certain degree of risk by criticizing the government. But since there is nobody else who would want to stick his neck out, I have to do it,'' Mahatir said Thursday evening, speaking from his office on the 88th floor of the Petronas twin towers, once the tallest buildings in the world.
Asked if he fears being arrested, Mahathir said: ''I may not be arrested or put in jail ... but there are ways of hitting out. Maybe at my relatives, or some kind of unpleasantness can occur.''
Pressed to elaborate, he said some of his relatives ''have been warned by the police, warned by the ministers that 'you do these things, there will be serious consequences.'''
One relative, a businessman, has also received calls from the Anti-Corruption Agency, he said.
A senior aide to Abdullah, speaking on condition of anonymity because of policy rules, dismissed Mahathir's allegations as untrue.
During his 22 years in office, Mahathir was credited with industrializing Malaysia, with a penchant for mega-projects, such as the Petronas towers. He also cracked down on suspected Islamic militants, which made his Muslim-majority nation a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.
But he became known for provocative, anti-Semitic comments, especially about what he saw as Western domination of developing countries and U.S. policy in the Middle East. He has been critical of President Bush -- and was again during the interview.
He said he spoke to Bush as prime minister, and ''I did not consider him as a person intelligent enough or aware enough of what's happening around him to become the president of the United States.''
''He has brought down the United States to a very low level. It is right that Americans should hate him,'' he said.
Mahathir also said he was not sure the Republicans would suffer big losses in the upcoming midterm elections, but even if they did, it is unlikely to lead to a change in U.S. policy in the Middle East because the Democrats are ''equally guilty'' of supporting the invasion of Iraq.
Mahathir retired in October 2003 after grooming Abdullah, then his deputy and a respected Islamic scholar, to lead Malaysia. Now he says he is ''ashamed'' to have chosen him, adding: ''My judgment of people is faulty.''
About a year ago, Mahathir began expressing unhappiness with Abdullah's style of government, and alleged that the premier's son, son-in-law and their cronies were using their position to enrich their businesses and gain political influence.
Mahathir's relentless campaign against Abdullah indicates he wants to oust the prime minister, even if it splits the ruling United Malays National Organization party. Such political instability could jeopardize investor confidence and hurt the economy.
Abdullah appears to have the backing of his Cabinet as well as the party, but Mahathir's considerable behind-the-scenes clout cannot be underestimated.
Mahathir and Abdullah held a closed-door meeting Sunday, which many hoped would lead to a reconciliation. But two days later, Mahathir called a news conference to repeat his allegations against Abdullah.
Abdullah broke his long silence about his former mentor on Thursday before the AP interview, saying he had expected Mahathir to wait for his response to the allegations before saying anything publicly. But instead, he repeated them ''with stronger doses of venom. ... What else can be done? He wants to continue,'' Abdullah said.
Coach wanted for sex abuse found dead in Malaysia
-Katu .com Portland, Oregon
MALAYSIA - Authorities are investigating reports that a missing Gresham soccer coach has been found dead in Malaysia.
Larry Cohen, who disappeared four years ago, was charged with sexually abusing former soccer players.
The Lake Oswego man was a coach for the West Villa Soccer Club in Gresham.
Cohen was out on bail on a $250,000 bond when he disappeared.
No cause of death has been announced.
Malaysia A Police State? Is Mahathir Serious?
By Farish A. Noor
Political scientists have to play the role of politician-watchers, observing the behavioral norms of this strange breed of creatures who bear an uncanny resemblance to the more numerous species of Homo sapiens, but who nonetheless have characteristics and capabilities unique to themselves. Many of us make the mistake of thinking that politicians are like ordinary human beings. Just because they drive cars, scratch their noses and use hand-phones like the rest of us does not mean that we belong to the same species.
Politicians have several unique character traits, and among them is the curious ability to invent and re-invent themselves in a chameleon-like manner. Another trait that many of them possess is to have a selective memory that allows them to remember only the facts that they are most comfortable with, and conversely, to forget whatever is inconvenient to them. As an ardent political scientist, I have been studying this species for more than a decade now, and have come across some outstanding specimens worthy of the best anthropological museums. I have come across hardcore religiously-inclined communitarian politicians who can wear the snappiest suits and yell “the Taliban are our Brothers” at the same time. I have also come across politicians who can alter their shape and form from sectarian ethno-nationalist bigot one day to world-wise pro-American client the next.
The recent comments made by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir Mohamad, demonstrates the characteristics of many a politician in many respects. During a press conference held shortly after a meeting with the current Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Mahathir lashed out at his chosen successor. Malaysia-watchers have sensed for some time now that the relations between the two men have been anything but rosy. For a start, the former PM feels that many of his complaints (some legitimate, mind you) against the conduct of the government have not been taken at heart and have not been given a public hearing. Neutral observers of the political game in Malaysia may be inclined to agree with this observation, as it is the case that the former Prime Minister of Malaysia has not exactly been given his share of time and space to make his feelings clear to all on issues such as the management of the national car company Proton and the (cancelled) construction of the bridge between Malaysia and Singapore.
But it was in during the same press conference that Mahathir aired the following complaint: “I consider this a police state. I also consider that my civic rights have been taken away.” During the same press conference Mahathir also added that “the habit of asking the police to frighten people should be stopped.” Here was homo politicus in its environment.
It is ironic that Mahathir should lash out against the Badawi administration in such a way, and on such terms. Malaysia remains far from a secular democracy by any stretch of the imagination, but for him to label the state as a police state beggars belief. For a start, the human rights fraternity in Malaysia and abroad would be the first to point out that it was during his tenure that the fundamental rights of Malaysians were most hastily and decisively trampled upon. Mahathir governed the country from 1981 to 2003, and during this period Malaysia witnessed numerous police operations against the country’s opposition parties, civil society and NGOs. It was during Mahathir’s time that notorious police crackdowns such as Operation Lalang (1987), Operation Kenari (1988), the crackdown on the Darul Arqam movement (1993-94) took place, sending hundreds of opposition leaders, journalists, academics, activists, union leaders and members of the public to jail, many to be put under detention without trial. Mahathir now laments the fact that he has been denied the right to speak, and that his civil rights have been taken away. It is curious that the same moral outrage was not demonstrated during the 1980s and 1990s, when many other Malaysians were sent to jail or detained without trial and denied their right to speak and have their voices heard.
It was also during the Mahathir era that the country witnessed the judicial crisis that led to the crippling of the judiciary; the muzzling of the press; the growing conflict between the state and the Islamist opposition; and the tightening of controls over the university campuses of the land. If anything, the spectacular development that took place during the 1980s and 1990s were underwritten by two factors: foreign direct investment and an increasingly authoritarian political culture in Malaysia itself.
How then can the former Prime Minister of Malaysia complain about the state of the country he left behind, when it was he who presided over the period that saw the erosion of fundamental human rights and liberties? It is this curious ability to reinvent the past and to forget their own role in the political process that allows politicians to stand out from the rest, as a breed apart.
Today Malaysia is poised on the brink of a national crisis. The stalemate between the Prime Minister and the former PM shows no signs of improving or correcting itself. Worse still is the fact that in the midst of this uncertainty there are no clear signs of leadership and direction that may deliver the country from the present impasse. Having lived under more than two decades of authoritarian rule, Malaysian society shows little sign of being able to adjust to a more open society governed by democratic norms. The rise of an increasingly communitarian, sectarian and religiously conservative middle class is just one of the indicators of all that is wrong in the land. But if Malaysians today do not know how to live in a democratic society and in a democratic manner, we have to look to its recent past to understand why that is so. The answer lies in the neo-feudal culture of centralized power that was personified and personalized in the form of Mahathir himself, who laid the foundations to the ‘police state’ he himself bemoans today.
Dr Farish A Noor is a Malaysian political scientist and human rights activist. Visit his site at othermalaysia.org
Overwhelming majority of world’s governments vote to start work on an international Arms Trade Treaty
Control Arms Campaign: Oxfam International, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA).
Today at the United Nations, the majority of the world’s governments took the first step towards a global Arms Trade Treaty to prevent international arms transfers that fuel conflict, poverty and serious human rights violations. The vote comes three years after the launch of a campaign which has seen over a million people in 170 countries calling for a Treaty.
The vote in the UN General Assembly’s First Committee is the first time that governments have voted on the proposal to develop an Arms Trade Treaty, and support was overwhelming: 139 voted yes, with only the United States voting against. Support was particularly strong in Africa, Latin America and Europe.
Work on the Treaty will begin in early 2007 when the new UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, will begin to canvass the views of all member states to establish the foundations of the Treaty.
Going into the vote, the resolution was co-sponsored by 116 governments; a huge number for such a bold initiative.15 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates supported the call for an Arms Trade Treaty this week in a statement issued by the Arias Foundation and the Control Arms Campaign.
"This massive vote to develop a global Arms Trade Treaty is an historic opportunity for governments to tackle the scourge of irresponsible and immoral arms transfers. Any credible Treaty must outlaw those transfers, which fuel the systematic murder, rape, torture and expulsion of thousands of people," said Kate Gilmore, Amnesty International’s Executive Deputy Secretary General.
"Today, the world’s governments have voted to end the scandal of the unregulated arms trade. Since the Control Arms campaign began three years ago, an estimated one million people have been killed by conventional weapons. In response, over a million campaigners from over 170 countries have called for an Arms Trade Treaty. Today governments answered that call," said Jeremy Hobbs, Director of Oxfam International.
"We have come a long, long way since three years ago when we launched the Control Arms campaign: in those days the prospect of an Arms Trade Treaty being negotiated in the UN was viewed as idealistic at best. But today we are in the majority. Now this victory must be converted into a strong and effective Arms Trade Treaty based on States’ commitments under international law," said Rebecca Peters, Director of IANSA.
Read the resolution text here [PDF file]
malaysia Mahathir Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Police State Gripped by Fear international Arms Trade
By Angus Whitley - Bloomberg
Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad said ``fear'' is gripping the country as he sought to explain months of criticism he has aimed at his successor, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
In an open letter addressed to ``Citizens of Malaysia,'' published first on the Internet and then in newspapers, Mahathir said that he alone was able to criticize the prime minister. He repeated accusations that the government doesn't tolerate dissent from any member of the ruling United Malays National Organization party.
``No one dares to comment, criticize or oppose anything that is done by the Prime -Minister,'' Mahathir wrote. ``A climate of fear has enveloped this country. I have to voice my criticisms.'' He signed his Oct. 27 letter as ``A Malaysian Citizen and Commoner.''
The attacks from Mahathir, who led Malaysia from 1981 to 2003, stem from Abdullah's reversal of some investment decisions made under the former premier, in favor of more education and health-care spending. Abdullah, after meeting Mahathir for two hours in private last week, has described the continuing attacks from the ex-premier as ``doses of venom.''
Mahathir, who told reporters on Oct. 23 that Malaysia had become a police state, in his letter said the mainstream media wasn't allowed to criticize the prime minister. The New Straits Times published his letter on the front page of today's edition.
Kamal Khalid, a spokesman for the prime minister's office, said today that Abdullah views the claim that Malaysia is a police state as ``a false assertion.'' The prime minister won't be responding to Mahathir's letter, he said.
Former Malaysia PM Says Family Harassed
The New York Times
Malaysia's outspoken former prime minister says his relatives are being harassed and intimidated by his hand-picked successor as their bitter, personal feud reached new levels this week.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Mahathir Mohamad said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has fostered ''a climate of fear'' against those daring to criticize his leadership.
The 82-year-old politician has accused Abdullah of corruption, nepotism and running a police state.
''I am taking a certain degree of risk by criticizing the government. But since there is nobody else who would want to stick his neck out, I have to do it,'' Mahatir said Thursday evening, speaking from his office on the 88th floor of the Petronas twin towers, once the tallest buildings in the world.
Asked if he fears being arrested, Mahathir said: ''I may not be arrested or put in jail ... but there are ways of hitting out. Maybe at my relatives, or some kind of unpleasantness can occur.''
Pressed to elaborate, he said some of his relatives ''have been warned by the police, warned by the ministers that 'you do these things, there will be serious consequences.'''
One relative, a businessman, has also received calls from the Anti-Corruption Agency, he said.
A senior aide to Abdullah, speaking on condition of anonymity because of policy rules, dismissed Mahathir's allegations as untrue.
During his 22 years in office, Mahathir was credited with industrializing Malaysia, with a penchant for mega-projects, such as the Petronas towers. He also cracked down on suspected Islamic militants, which made his Muslim-majority nation a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.
But he became known for provocative, anti-Semitic comments, especially about what he saw as Western domination of developing countries and U.S. policy in the Middle East. He has been critical of President Bush -- and was again during the interview.
He said he spoke to Bush as prime minister, and ''I did not consider him as a person intelligent enough or aware enough of what's happening around him to become the president of the United States.''
''He has brought down the United States to a very low level. It is right that Americans should hate him,'' he said.
Mahathir also said he was not sure the Republicans would suffer big losses in the upcoming midterm elections, but even if they did, it is unlikely to lead to a change in U.S. policy in the Middle East because the Democrats are ''equally guilty'' of supporting the invasion of Iraq.
Mahathir retired in October 2003 after grooming Abdullah, then his deputy and a respected Islamic scholar, to lead Malaysia. Now he says he is ''ashamed'' to have chosen him, adding: ''My judgment of people is faulty.''
About a year ago, Mahathir began expressing unhappiness with Abdullah's style of government, and alleged that the premier's son, son-in-law and their cronies were using their position to enrich their businesses and gain political influence.
Mahathir's relentless campaign against Abdullah indicates he wants to oust the prime minister, even if it splits the ruling United Malays National Organization party. Such political instability could jeopardize investor confidence and hurt the economy.
Abdullah appears to have the backing of his Cabinet as well as the party, but Mahathir's considerable behind-the-scenes clout cannot be underestimated.
Mahathir and Abdullah held a closed-door meeting Sunday, which many hoped would lead to a reconciliation. But two days later, Mahathir called a news conference to repeat his allegations against Abdullah.
Abdullah broke his long silence about his former mentor on Thursday before the AP interview, saying he had expected Mahathir to wait for his response to the allegations before saying anything publicly. But instead, he repeated them ''with stronger doses of venom. ... What else can be done? He wants to continue,'' Abdullah said.
Coach wanted for sex abuse found dead in Malaysia
-Katu .com Portland, Oregon
MALAYSIA - Authorities are investigating reports that a missing Gresham soccer coach has been found dead in Malaysia.
Larry Cohen, who disappeared four years ago, was charged with sexually abusing former soccer players.
The Lake Oswego man was a coach for the West Villa Soccer Club in Gresham.
Cohen was out on bail on a $250,000 bond when he disappeared.
No cause of death has been announced.
Malaysia A Police State? Is Mahathir Serious?
By Farish A. Noor
Political scientists have to play the role of politician-watchers, observing the behavioral norms of this strange breed of creatures who bear an uncanny resemblance to the more numerous species of Homo sapiens, but who nonetheless have characteristics and capabilities unique to themselves. Many of us make the mistake of thinking that politicians are like ordinary human beings. Just because they drive cars, scratch their noses and use hand-phones like the rest of us does not mean that we belong to the same species.
Politicians have several unique character traits, and among them is the curious ability to invent and re-invent themselves in a chameleon-like manner. Another trait that many of them possess is to have a selective memory that allows them to remember only the facts that they are most comfortable with, and conversely, to forget whatever is inconvenient to them. As an ardent political scientist, I have been studying this species for more than a decade now, and have come across some outstanding specimens worthy of the best anthropological museums. I have come across hardcore religiously-inclined communitarian politicians who can wear the snappiest suits and yell “the Taliban are our Brothers” at the same time. I have also come across politicians who can alter their shape and form from sectarian ethno-nationalist bigot one day to world-wise pro-American client the next.
The recent comments made by the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir Mohamad, demonstrates the characteristics of many a politician in many respects. During a press conference held shortly after a meeting with the current Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Mahathir lashed out at his chosen successor. Malaysia-watchers have sensed for some time now that the relations between the two men have been anything but rosy. For a start, the former PM feels that many of his complaints (some legitimate, mind you) against the conduct of the government have not been taken at heart and have not been given a public hearing. Neutral observers of the political game in Malaysia may be inclined to agree with this observation, as it is the case that the former Prime Minister of Malaysia has not exactly been given his share of time and space to make his feelings clear to all on issues such as the management of the national car company Proton and the (cancelled) construction of the bridge between Malaysia and Singapore.
But it was in during the same press conference that Mahathir aired the following complaint: “I consider this a police state. I also consider that my civic rights have been taken away.” During the same press conference Mahathir also added that “the habit of asking the police to frighten people should be stopped.” Here was homo politicus in its environment.
It is ironic that Mahathir should lash out against the Badawi administration in such a way, and on such terms. Malaysia remains far from a secular democracy by any stretch of the imagination, but for him to label the state as a police state beggars belief. For a start, the human rights fraternity in Malaysia and abroad would be the first to point out that it was during his tenure that the fundamental rights of Malaysians were most hastily and decisively trampled upon. Mahathir governed the country from 1981 to 2003, and during this period Malaysia witnessed numerous police operations against the country’s opposition parties, civil society and NGOs. It was during Mahathir’s time that notorious police crackdowns such as Operation Lalang (1987), Operation Kenari (1988), the crackdown on the Darul Arqam movement (1993-94) took place, sending hundreds of opposition leaders, journalists, academics, activists, union leaders and members of the public to jail, many to be put under detention without trial. Mahathir now laments the fact that he has been denied the right to speak, and that his civil rights have been taken away. It is curious that the same moral outrage was not demonstrated during the 1980s and 1990s, when many other Malaysians were sent to jail or detained without trial and denied their right to speak and have their voices heard.
It was also during the Mahathir era that the country witnessed the judicial crisis that led to the crippling of the judiciary; the muzzling of the press; the growing conflict between the state and the Islamist opposition; and the tightening of controls over the university campuses of the land. If anything, the spectacular development that took place during the 1980s and 1990s were underwritten by two factors: foreign direct investment and an increasingly authoritarian political culture in Malaysia itself.
How then can the former Prime Minister of Malaysia complain about the state of the country he left behind, when it was he who presided over the period that saw the erosion of fundamental human rights and liberties? It is this curious ability to reinvent the past and to forget their own role in the political process that allows politicians to stand out from the rest, as a breed apart.
Today Malaysia is poised on the brink of a national crisis. The stalemate between the Prime Minister and the former PM shows no signs of improving or correcting itself. Worse still is the fact that in the midst of this uncertainty there are no clear signs of leadership and direction that may deliver the country from the present impasse. Having lived under more than two decades of authoritarian rule, Malaysian society shows little sign of being able to adjust to a more open society governed by democratic norms. The rise of an increasingly communitarian, sectarian and religiously conservative middle class is just one of the indicators of all that is wrong in the land. But if Malaysians today do not know how to live in a democratic society and in a democratic manner, we have to look to its recent past to understand why that is so. The answer lies in the neo-feudal culture of centralized power that was personified and personalized in the form of Mahathir himself, who laid the foundations to the ‘police state’ he himself bemoans today.
Dr Farish A Noor is a Malaysian political scientist and human rights activist. Visit his site at othermalaysia.org
**********
Overwhelming majority of world’s governments vote to start work on an international Arms Trade Treaty
Control Arms Campaign: Oxfam International, Amnesty International and the International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA).
Today at the United Nations, the majority of the world’s governments took the first step towards a global Arms Trade Treaty to prevent international arms transfers that fuel conflict, poverty and serious human rights violations. The vote comes three years after the launch of a campaign which has seen over a million people in 170 countries calling for a Treaty.
The vote in the UN General Assembly’s First Committee is the first time that governments have voted on the proposal to develop an Arms Trade Treaty, and support was overwhelming: 139 voted yes, with only the United States voting against. Support was particularly strong in Africa, Latin America and Europe.
Work on the Treaty will begin in early 2007 when the new UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, will begin to canvass the views of all member states to establish the foundations of the Treaty.
Going into the vote, the resolution was co-sponsored by 116 governments; a huge number for such a bold initiative.15 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates supported the call for an Arms Trade Treaty this week in a statement issued by the Arias Foundation and the Control Arms Campaign.
"This massive vote to develop a global Arms Trade Treaty is an historic opportunity for governments to tackle the scourge of irresponsible and immoral arms transfers. Any credible Treaty must outlaw those transfers, which fuel the systematic murder, rape, torture and expulsion of thousands of people," said Kate Gilmore, Amnesty International’s Executive Deputy Secretary General.
"Today, the world’s governments have voted to end the scandal of the unregulated arms trade. Since the Control Arms campaign began three years ago, an estimated one million people have been killed by conventional weapons. In response, over a million campaigners from over 170 countries have called for an Arms Trade Treaty. Today governments answered that call," said Jeremy Hobbs, Director of Oxfam International.
"We have come a long, long way since three years ago when we launched the Control Arms campaign: in those days the prospect of an Arms Trade Treaty being negotiated in the UN was viewed as idealistic at best. But today we are in the majority. Now this victory must be converted into a strong and effective Arms Trade Treaty based on States’ commitments under international law," said Rebecca Peters, Director of IANSA.
Read the resolution text here [PDF file]
malaysia Mahathir Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Police State Gripped by Fear international Arms Trade
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