[Kabar-indonesia] Mahathir's diatribe the talk of KL despite media blackout

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Straits Times (Singapore)
June 27, 2006

Carolyn Opposition now instant fans of former prime minister Hong, Malaysia 
Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR - WHEN Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave his now infamous 
talk on Saturday lambasting the government, opposition leaders filled the
front rows of the audience.

They included Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) top guns - deputy president
Nasharuddin Mat Isa, youth chief Salahuddin Ayob and vice-president
Husam Musa.

That night, the private TV3 station aired footage of Tun Dr Mahathir
mingling with them, hinting naughtily at an unholy tango between the
former premier and the opposition who once labelled him a pharaoh for
his mega projects.

This, however, was almost the only coverage of Tun Dr Mahathir's
latest diatribe in the local media yesterday.

His two-hour talk, during which he was dismissive of his handpicked
successor, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, and mocking of his former
Cabinet colleagues, was almost entirely ignored by local newspapers.

The mass-selling Malay newspapers and the independent-minded Chinese
newspapers did not carry any mention of it. Neither did the New
Straits Times.

There was a short report in an early edition of The Star newspaper,
which gave a general idea of the tone of the dialogue but left out the
details.

There has also been no comment, so far, from Datuk Seri Abdullah or
other leaders.

Instead, the newspapers focused on the Prime Minister's speech at the
Malaysian Indian Congress' assembly on Saturday, which called on
Barisan Nasional component parties to transcend communal interests to
realise Malaysia's goal to become a developed country by 2020.

It was perhaps a signal that the government has decided to focus on
the country's development and would not be distracted by the former
premier's angry attacks.

The media blackout was, as some say, reminiscent of how the country's
first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman was treated after he became
one of Tun Dr Mahathir's fiercest critics in the 1980s.

But unlike the 1980s, the Internet has become a major means of
communication, and it helped Tun DR Mahathir's diatribe become the
talk of town soon after the event ended at lunchtime on Saturday.

By that evening, a video of the talk was uploaded on the website of
Malaysia Today, which hosted the function. Various accounts and
photographs were carried in other news websites such as Agenda Daily
and Malaysiakini, and private blogs.

As much as the content of his attacks, his dalliance with the
opposition was also a talking point.

The irony became even more pronounced when the former premier spoke in
homely colloquial Malay, giving the talk an uncanny veneer of an
opposition ceramah, or rally.

But it is unlikely that Tun Dr Mahathir will become an opposition ally
- he has no love for them, and insisted on Saturday that he speaks
only for himself.

But to the opposition, his intimate knowledge of the government and
his outbursts are a rich source of ammunition against the current
administration.

'We welcome any prominent personalities questioning the government,'
the opposition Democratic Action Party leader, Mr Lim Guan Eng, was
quoted as saying yesterday.

Tun Dr Mahathir can be more dangerous to the government than the
opposition can ever be. More so than the attacks by opposition
members; his words carry weight. He can shake delicate political
alignments and raise doubts about the current administration.

His constant attacks are clearly being seen in the government circles
as a bullying tactic.

One of his targets - NST editorial adviser Kalimullah Hassan - wrote a
thinly veiled article yesterday alluding to the attacks.

Datuk Kalimullah, who has been blamed by the former premier for the
media blackout, wrote about dealing with bullies 'who nudge you, goad
you and are spoiling for a fight'.

He told a story of a man who used wit to defeat bullies, and another
who beat the bullies to pulp, although he did not say which he
preferred.

By upping the ante on Saturday, Tun Dr Mahathir must have hoped to
provoke a response from his successor and the latter's team.

But the media blackout and continuation of the government's policy of
'elegant silence', as some have put it, will no doubt rile Tun Dr
Mahathir further, prompting many to wonder what his next move will be.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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