Mahathir worried that Pakatan will extend its gains...

Malaysia’s ruling National Front coalition should hold off calling elections to allow more time to win support from groups such as the country’s ethnic Chinese, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said.

Current leader Najib Razak may secure a simple majority in parliament without winning back the two-thirds control lost in 2008 if elections were held today, Mahathir, 86, said in an interview at his office today inKuala Lumpur. Najib would struggle to win back opposition-held states, he said.

“If you have the time, use the time to build up support,” Mahathir said. The coalition “can’t afford to lose support from any sector of the country. The current thinking is that the Chinese won’t vote for the government.”

Najib, who took over as prime minister mid-term in 2009, is bound by law to call an election by early 2013. He sparked speculation of an early vote when he said in December that preparations had begun for the contest after a budget that was unveiled in October boosted wages for civil servants and gave cash payments to low-income families.

Mahathir won five consecutive national elections as the prime minister of Southeast Asia’s third-biggest economy before stepping down in 2003. In 2008, the National Front lost a third of its seats in the worst showing since independence in 1957.

‘Moral Force’

Mahathir “is a moral force for a lot of Malays,” said Ooi Kee Beng, deputy director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. “Even for non-Malays, they want to forget it nowadays, but in the early 1990s, most of them felt a certain pride that Mahathir gave to them.”

Before 2008, the worst showing for the National Front was in 1969, when candidates representing urban ethnic Chinese and rural Islamic opposition groups won more than a third of seats in Parliament. Ethnic Chinese victory marches prompted a backlash from Malay groups that led to emergency rule.

Najib’s father, Abdul Razak, took over as prime minister in 1970 and responded by creating an affirmative-action policy that gave Malays educational, housing and job preferences.

Mahathir downplayed the chance of an election victory for opposition groups led by Anwar Ibrahim, who was acquitted last month of sodomy charges he claimed were politically motivated. 

Anwar in a Nov. 3 interview predicted an election victory for his People’s Alliance in a “Malaysia Spring,” a reference to the toppling of authoritarian regimes in the Middle East known as the “Arab Spring.”

‘Never Cared’

“If you look at the Arab countries, it was clear that these authoritarian rulers never cared for the people, never created jobs,” he said. “Malaysia, on the other hand, upon gaining independence, spent most of its time trying to create jobs for its people.”

Anwar had been Mahathir’s deputy until he was fired when faced with similar allegations in 1998. He was sentenced to nine years in jail for sodomy and a separate corruption charge at that time, before being released in 2004 after Malaysia’s highest court overturned the sex conviction.

If Anwar’s opposition gains power, the country “would be turned upside down,” Mahathir said.- Barry Porter and Haslinda Amin

source:bloomberg.com

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Mahathir juga takut kalau Pakatan menang, apa akan jadi pada nasib dirinya kelak... mungkinkah habih rahsia 22 tahun pemerintahannya bakal dilondeh...

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