Dr M's chief apologist accuses PM of taking apart the Mahathir legacy step-by-step
Sanusi Junid, interviewed by PAS newspaper Harakah. — Bernama pic
(MalaysianInsider) KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — The way Tan Sri Sanusi Junid’s sees it, the public and nasty spat between Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the man who replaced him as Prime Minister of Malaysia, was bound to happen. It was just a matter of time, and he put the inevitability down to Abdullah’s insistence on overhauling everything Dr Mahathir stood for.
"Abdullah wanted to go against Mahathir, he wanted to be different from Mahathir. If before Mahathir did not want to meet heads of different religions, Abdullah wanted to meet them. Before Mahathir disagreed with Australia, while Abdullah holidayed there. He wanted to be friends with America and gave awards to British who served in Malaya.
"Mahathir wanted to build the bridge, but he cancelled it," said Sanusi, chief confidant to Dr Mahathir and trenchant critic of Abdullah.
Like Dr Mahathir, he too quit Umno. Like Dr Mahathir, he too wants Abdullah to take responsibility for Barisan Nasional’s poor performance in Election 2008 and step down as president of Umno immediately. And like Dr Mahathir, he too is using different platforms to reach out to the Malay grassroots and persuade them to rise up in unison and demand change when the branch and division elections begin.
In an interview with Harakah, the PAS newspaper, he concedes that if Abdullah obtains nominations to defend the party president’s position in December, it will be game, set and match to the PM. "Some division chiefs have been met. Some of them have been threatened. In government, it is possible to get many things if you support to the top leadership. It is possible that at the assembly in December, there will be no resolutions asking Pak Lah to step down. Instead they could be calls for him to stay on as president of Umno. That is why Mahathir had to take that drastic step to push the message of change," said the former menteri besar of Kedah.
Arguably, relations between Mahathir and Abdullah would not have become so poisonous if the latter understood one simple fact: that Mahathir still wanted to be consulted over policies after handing over power in October 2003. Outwardly, he said that he craved time with his family, and time away from politics and governing.
But what he sought was a senior advisory role. He did not want to become yesterday’s news nor did he enjoy seeing his legacy chipped away bit by bit by the man who he believed would be a safer bet as the PM than the more accomplished Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Sanusi notes in the interview that Dr Mahathir had an office at the Perdana Leadership Foundation in Putrajaya, a short distance from the PM’s office. "This means that he was wiling to give advice to Abdullah on any issues," he said.
This did not happen. Instead, Abdullah wanted to become his own man. On foreign policy, he felt that Malaysia should tone down the confrontational approach with Singapore, Australia and United States and look for areas of common good. He became the first Malaysian premier to make an official visit to Australia.
At home, he announced a campaign to tackle corruption, improve corporate governance and the public delivery system. He cancelled several big ticket infrastructure projects, saying that the government was interested in bringing down the budget deficit.
By then, Dr Mahathir knew that he had made a mistake. Abdullah was not consulting him and seemed to be trying to diminish his legacy.
But between 2004 and early 2006, Abdullah was untouchable. Despite the pedestrian pace of reform, Malaysians still believed that he could deliver on his promises of a better country. By mid 2006, there were signs that the Umno ground was getting antsy with his style of leadership; businessmen were troubled by lack of economic activity and direction and the liberal, chattering class, were wondering what had happened to the man who promised to walk the talk.
Against this backdrop, religious and racial discord seemed to be on the rise. There was also percolating anger within Umno at the rise and rise of Khairy Jamaluddin, the prime minister’s son-in-law.
Sensing that his political honeymoon was over, Dr Mahathir struck. He launched a tirade against Abdullah, rubbishing his Mr Clean image, accusing him of ceding power of decision-making to Khairy and giving his son, Kamaluddin, a raft of contracts.
Abdullah was shaken and had to publicly defend his track record. The attacks continued for several months and only abated when Dr Mahathir went into hospital for a heart bypass. But by then, it was clear to Dr Mahathir that he had lost the power to influence the power brokers in the party. Ministers shunned him and senior party officials questioned his track record.
Abdullah’s inner circle knew that once Dr Mahathir recovered, the attacks would resume. They expected the volleys to begin after the polls in March, especially if the Barisan Nasional government did not perform as well as expected, and continue right up till the party elections, then scheduled for August.
But they were mistaken. Dr Mahathir launched his attacks way before March 8 and among other things, told Malaysians that they would be better served if there was a stronger Opposition presence in the legislature. Still, nobody in Abdullah’s team pressed the panic button because reports from the ground showed that the BN would win the election easily.
On March 7, the Special Branch and military intelligence were predicting that in the worst case scenario only 55 seats would fall to the Opposition. Wanita Umno was even more bullish, saying that ground reports by their members showed that as many as 190 parliamentary seats were in the bag.
Even the BN component parties were guilty of serious miscalculation. MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting was told by some party candidates that he need not campaign in their constituency because it was safe. Some of these seats fell to the Opposition.
BN’s dismal performance on March 8 only fired up Dr Mahathir. He believed that it would only be a matter of weeks before Abdullah was forced to step down. After all, historically, no Malaysian politician has presided over the loss of four key states and its customary two-third majority in Parliament, and survived.
Even some of Abdullah’s supporters expected him to step down. But the PM apparently told his friends before the polls that he intended to stay on in office regardless of the winning margin.
From Dr Mahathir’s perspective, his nemesis Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has a better chance of coming to power if Abdullah stayed on as PM.
Sanusi said: "I believe Anwar will be relevant as long as Abdullah is around. That is why there has not been a motion of no-confidence in Parliament against Pak Lah. If Abdullah is allowed to stay, Anwar will take over in 2013."
Dr Mahathir is also certain that if Abdullah remains as prime minister, his reputation will undergo a severe beating. The PM’s agenda of cleaning up the judiciary has already put him in bad light.
The decision to issue a statement of regret and pay compensation to the five judges sacked or suspended in 1988 by a tribunal convened by the Mahathir government has upset supporters of the former PM.
Abdullah’s plan to set up the Judicial Appointments Commission is also laden with sinister motives, these people charge. In their eyes, the phrase judicial reform suggests that things were rotten in the judicial system under the Mahathir administration.
"Why should a commission be set up to select judges? What’s wrong with the present system? The judiciary selects, gives it to the PM who bring it to the Cabinet and then to the King. The King discusses the matter with the Malay Rulers," said Sanusi.
The Royal Commission on the V.K. Lingam video clip found much wrong with the present system of selecting and promoting judges, and named Dr Mahathir as one of the players in the previous administration who did not follow the constitutional process in appointing candidates to the Bench.
As far as Dr Mahathir and his ilk are concerned, they have seen enough from Abdullah. Allowing him to stay in office any longer will be disastrous for the former prime minister’s legacy. Sanusi puts a different spin on things.
"Mahathir left Umno and has asked Abdullah to step down because he wants to save Umno," he said.
For now, the Mahathir camp wants Najib to move against Abdullah. But supporters of Najib are wary of taking this path, concerned that any alliance with Dr Mahathir could leave Najib with little choice but to agree to the setting up of a presidential council.
This council of advisers, a key demand of Dr Mahathir, will effectively run Umno and the country. In such a system, the powers of the PM will be curtailed, and Dr Mahathir could end up as the power behind the throne.
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