Son of Dr M Vs Son of Karpal

Monday April 14, 2008

Mukhriz and Gobind Singh join public spat in defence of their fathers

PENANG: The public spat between former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and DAP chairman Karpal Singh has now spilled over to their sons.

Jerlun MP Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir and Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo descended into the arena, in the defence of their fathers.

While Mukhriz accused Karpal Singh of resorting to personal attacks against Dr Mahathir because he was still influential in the political arena even after retirement, Gobind Singh fired salvos at both Dr Mahathir and Mukhriz calling the former premier a dictator. This comes after a series of attacks and personal mudslinging from members of both political “dynasties” in recent weeks.

Gobind Singh said that Dr Mahathir had much to fear if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi remained in power, as Abdullah was capable of exposing more scandals that happened during the Mahathir era, like the Lingam expose.

“He is responsible for the scandals that plagued the Barisan and led to its tsunamic loss in the 2008 elections,” Gobind Singh said in a statement yesterday, adding that Mukhriz should look at the facts before springing to the defence of his father.

Gobind Singh said that the “PM bashing” began when Abdullah made decisions independent of Dr Mahathir.

“This again demonstrates the kind of dictator Dr Mahathir is. He wants his way even after retirement.”

Meanwhile, Karpal Singh has asked Mukhriz to stop attacking Abdullah who “has more strength and is more amendable than his predecessor.”

“There is no doubt Abdullah is still the Prime Minister as Barisan Nasional has secured 50.3% of popular votes.

“People have their weaknesses and strengths. Unlike Abdullah, Dr Mahathir has more weaknesses than strengths,” he said yesterday.

He added that Dr Mahathir's weaknesses were reflected in his treatment of his predecessor Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra when he (Dr Mahathir) lost the Kota Setar Selatan parliamentary seat in the 1969 general election and PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim whom he removed as deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister in 1998.