And now, he has trained his sights on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.One of the reasons often cited for Dr Mahathir Mohamad's continued interference in the administrations after him is to engineer his son's ascension in the political hierarchy.
Despite failing to clinch a vice-president post in the last Umno elections, Mukhriz was named as Kedah menteri besar.
But Mahathir, according to the grapevine, is far from satisfied. He wants his son to become the prime minister and is prepared to be the juggernaut that clears the path for this objective.
It is also often speculated that whenever the smell of defeat is in the air, his cronies run to him out of fear that should the ruling coalition crumble, the opposition would embark on a witch-hunt.
Though Anwar Ibrahim has denied this, there is still grave concern for he is a man with a large axe to grind.
Paying for Umno's transgressions
Mahathir's initial shot with the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder was near fatal for Najib, but the latter managed to survive with the support from various quarters within Umno.
Tired of sniping from a distance, the former premier has now decided to use an automatic weapon instead and is raining bullets.
However, Mahathir had also inadvertently admitted that the ruling coalition is corrupt and its transgressions are being swept under the carpet for now.
Apart
from tarnishing the image of Umno and BN politicians, he also cast
aspersions on the police and courts with regard to dealing with
corruption among ruling party politicians.Mahathir argued that to avoid landing behind bars, Najib must be removed to ensure that BN retains power in the next general election.
"What I am most afraid of is if the opposition wins, the opposition has no sympathy. They will dig (for answers), and if they dig, people will be charged in court and may be found guilty.
"So if BN loses ... A lot of people will have to pay a big price," he had said.
Opposition will capitalise
Mahathir loyalist Zainuddin Maidin warned that even the former premier, who has been accused of almost everything under the sun, except murder, could also find himself counting prison bars in his nineties.
Mahathir's warning was aimed at instilling dread in Umno that with Najib as president and prime minister, the next stop after the elections, could be prison.
However, this could backfire.
His remarks have provided the opposition with potent fodder against the regime in the coming election.This message from Mahathir would be carried far and wide.
In Umno, instead of sowing the seeds of fear, it could lead to anger that Mahathir is inflicting greater damage than Anwar and this would convince them to back Najib.
While Mahathir has nothing to lose after having tasted the fruits of success and power, many in Umno are worried that he would ruin their ambitions by unleashing the kraken.
The question now is whether Umno would crack before Pakatan Rakyat does over the hudud quagmire?
Perhaps Umno is now wondering if the wrong man had been thrown in jail.
As for Mahathir, even his dream of seeing his son becoming prime minister is at risk as the walls appear to be closing in both on Mukhriz and Umno. - mk
Mahathir - "pembunuh" dengan rekod prestasi yang hebat...
Beliau adalah seorang "pembunuh" dengan rekod prestasi yang hebat. Mereka yang jatuh dalam rerambut silang beliau akan dihapuskan. Senarai mangsa adalah panjang dan cemerlang.
Dan kini, beliau telah menghala pelurumya kepada Perdana Menteri Najib Abdul Razak.
Salah satu sebab sering dikatakan mengapa Mahathir sering ganggu pentadbiran Najib adalah merekayasa kenaikan anaknya dalam hierarki politik.
Walaupun gagal untuk merangkul jawatan Naib Presiden dalam pemilihan UMNO lalu, Mukhriz dinamakan sebagai Menteri Besar Kedah.
Tetapi, mengikut khabar-khabar angin,Mahathir kekecewaannya lebih jauh dari itu. Dia mahu anaknya menjadi perdana menteri dan bersedia untuk mengorbankan apa saja asalkan jalan menuju matlamat ini berjaya.
Ia juga sering menjadi spekulasi bahawa apabila berbau kekalahan, kroni2nya akan lari kepadanya kerana bimbang sekiranya parti pemerintah tewas,pembangkang akan mulakan memburu mereka ini.
Walaupun Anwar Ibrahim menafikan ini akan berlaku,namun ramai masih bimbang kerana Anwar masih tak lupa apa yang mereka lakukan kepadanya dulu.
Bosan dengan tembakan jarak dekat Mahathir seterusnya telah memutuskan untuk menggunakan senjata automatik dan bukannya hujan peluru lagi.
Walau bagaimanapun, Mahathir dengan secara tidak sengaja mengakui bahawa parti pemerintah adalah disaluti rasuah dan amalan serta perlakuan ini melanda secara berleluasa dan sering di sembunyikan dari pengetahuan orang ramai buat masa ini.
Selain dari mencemarkan imej UMNO dan ahli-ahli politik BN, dia juga menuduh kecuaian polis dan mahkamah kerana tidak menangani rasuah di kalangan ahli politik parti pemerintah dengan sempurna.
Mahathir berhujah bahawa untuk mengelakkan dari dipenjarakan, Najib mesti diturunkan dari jawatannya,supaya memastikan BN mengekalkan kuasa pada pilihan raya umum akan datang.
"Apa yang saya paling takut adalah jika pembangkang menang, pembangkang tidak mempunyai simpati. Mereka akan menggali dan mencari jawapan, dan jika mereka berjaya, orang2 kita akan didakwa di mahkamah dan boleh didapati bersalah.
"Jadi, jika BN kalah... ramailah orang kita akan menghadapi risiko penjara." kata beliau.
Pembangkang akan mengambil kesempatan
Peminat setia Mahathir, Zainuddin Maidin memberi amaran bahawa walaupun bekas Perdana Menteri itu, yang telah dilempar dengan berbagai tuduhan di bawah matahari, kecuali membunuh, akhirnya akan mengira jerejak2 besi penjara ketika umurnya jangkau sembilan puluhan nanti.
Amaran Mahathir bertujuan untuk menanamkan rasa takut dalam UMNO dan dengan Najib sebagai Presiden dan Perdana Menteri, perhentian UMNO seterusnya selepas pilihan raya ke-14, boleh menjadi di penjara. Atau pun,ini boleh berlaku sebaliknya.
Dalam UMNO, daripada menyemai benih-benih ketakutan, ia juga boleh membawa perasaan marah kepada Mahathir dan UMNO merasakan Mahathir cuba mengenakan kerosakan yang lebih besar daripada Anwar dan ini akan meyakinkan mereka untuk menyokong Najib.
Walaupun Mahathir tak rugi apa-apa dalam konflik ini setelah dia menikmati hasil kemakmuran dan kuasa, ramai dalam UMNO risau dia akan merosakkan cita-cita mereka yang lain dengan melepaskan kegeramannya itu.
Persoalannya sekarang ialah sama ada UMNO akan retak terlebih dahulu sebelum Pakatan Rakyat berpecah kerana isu hudud?
Mungkin UMNO kini tertanya-tanya apakah mereka sudah tersalah hantar lelaki itu ke penjara.
Bagi Mahathir, impiannya untuk melihat anaknya menjadi Perdana Menteri berisiko tinggi kerana situasi kini kelihatan malap di kedua-dua belah pihak Mukhriz dan UMNO.
Malaysia Strengthens Sedition Act...
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has made two contrasting pledges with regard to the Sedition Act of 1948. First, during the election period in 2012, he vowed to repeal the archaic law. Then, two years later, he announced that the law would be strengthened to preserve domestic harmony. Last Friday, Najib’s allies in parliament upheld the latter when they passed a bill that made several amendments to the Sedition Act.
Some government critics will no doubt be relieved that the amendments included the removal of provisions that make it seditious to criticize the government and the judiciary. Overall, though, the new law represents a greater threat to human rights and free speech. The maximum jail term for general sedition cases has been increased from three to seven years. A new provision allows for a penalty of up to 20 years for seditious activities that result in physical harm or destruction of property.
The government argues that the new law is necessary to prevent malicious individuals from using the Internet to cause divisions in society. In particular, the law is said to be the government’s response to the demand of certain groups in Sabah and Sarawak to secede from the Malaysian Federation.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi admitted this in a statement given to media. “Last time, there was no Internet and non-verbal communication over social media. Those days, we didn’t have groups of people inciting people (in Sabah and Sarawak) to get out of Malaysia.”
But the government’s determination to maintain unity was affirmed at the expense of establishing a environment conducive to a free media.
One of the amendments empowers the Sessions Court to issue a prohibition order on a seditious publication that would “likely lead to bodily injury or damage to property” or that “appears to be promoting feeling of ill will, hostility or hatred” between different races or classes on the grounds of religion.”
The Institute of Journalists Malaysia (IJM) warned in a statement that the ambiguity of the terms “likely” and “appears” could be open to abuse and misinterpretation. It also finds the prohibition order to be “an unfairly harsh punishment,” especially since it has no expiry date.
Another amendment allows the court to issue an order to remove seditious content from publications issued by electronic means, such as online publications. Those who are found to be “propagating” seditious messages will be prohibited from accessing any electronic device.
The IJM said this particular provision will have a negative impact on online journalism: “The inability to access tools of the trade will mean online journalists’ careers are at risk and threatens the existence of legitimate news portals. The prohibition on ‘propagating’ seditious speech or their publication also means that online news portals cannot share allegedly seditious remarks on social media and RSS feeds will cease to exist, further silencing discussion on policies and issues which are of national interest.”
For Janarthani Arumugam, president of EMPOWER, a media advocacy group, the term “propagation” is too broad, and could be invoked to silence online users: “One assumes that a retweet and a Facebook share would be considered as propagation. Would these broad and vague terms also make it an offence for journalists, activists, and ordinary people to quote allegedly “seditious words” when commenting on or criticizing them in any publication?”
Even the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein is concerned about these provisions: “These proposals are particularly worrying given that the Sedition Act has been applied in many instances to curb the legitimate exercise of freedom of expression in Malaysia.”
He was probably referring to the scores of critics, journalists, academics, activists, and opposition politicians who had been arrested in recent months for alleged sedition.
The new Sedition Act makes it possible for citizens to freely criticize government officials but it doesn’t mean it has ceased to be a tool for repression. For former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, laws like the Sedition Act “are made not to maintain harmony, but to maintain the government in power.” - the diplomat
cheers.
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