In a fascinating turn of events, Malaysia’s two-time prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad caused a stir in the court last Monday (Aug 26) after shooting back at a lawyer that “politicians would lie if there is a chance..!”
The 99-year-old former prime minister was testifying in the hearing of his defamation suit against his former Umno comrade and current deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
For context, the defamation suit filed by Dr Mahathir centres around Zahid’s comments made in 2017, when he was the home minister in Najib Razak’s government - and it was over the ex-prime minister’s ancestry.
The former Umno president had claimed that Zahid’s defamatory statements insinuated that he was not born as a Malay or a Muslim, and alleged that his original name was actually “Mahathir son of Iskandar Kutty”.
Dr Mahathir argued that the statements appeared to suggest that he had claimed to be of Malay race merely for political and personal benefits, and that he had a somewhat warped view about the Indian community.
Cross-examined by Zahid’s counsel Mohd Shahrul Fazli Kamarulzaman, Dr Mahathir contended that while the statements made by the Bagan Datuk MP did not specifically name him, people could infer that it was about him due to the references made by the latter.
According to the former Langkawi MP, Zahid intentionally didn’t mention his name because being a politician he will tend to “hide”, so that he can be safe from being sued; Dr Mahathir then cheekily added that “politicians would lie if there is a chance..!”
Taking to the stand, Dr Mahathir had earlier told the court that he was born a Malay Muslim but has paternal roots which can be traced back to Kerala in Southern India.
The ex-statesman also said that his father's name was Mohamad Iskandar who was from Penang, while his mother’s name was Wan Tempawan Wan Hanapi, a Malay from Kedah; he added that, as such, his parents were both ‘pure’ Malays!
Furthermore, Dr Mahathir seemed to lament the fact that no one had ever referred to him by the “Kutty” name except for Zahid in his defamatory statements; he went on to claim that Zahid’s statements suggested that he was a liar, a person who could not be trusted, and was unfit to be a leader.
The nonagenarian also clarified that Zahid’s statements were made in 2017 but the suit was initiated in 2022, as the statements were deemed to be personal and aimed at tainting his political reputation; moreover, he argued that the current Umno president refused to apologise despite being granted several opportunities.
For the record, Dr Mahathir is seeking general, exemplary and aggravated damages from Zahid, together with an injunction barring the latter or his agents from repeating such claims.
Incidentally, Dr Mahathir who served as the fourth and seventh prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and 2018 to early 2020, is no stranger to controversies during his long, eventful and at times turbulent tenure as the country’s top leader.
This includes the detention of politicians and activists without trial under the much-criticised Internal Security Act, the most notorious being “Operasi Lalang” in 1987; additionally, he also had to constantly fight off allegations of nepotism and cronyism during his administration.
Yet, ironically it was he who had gallantly spearheaded the then-opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition to victory over the "unsinkable" Umno/BN juggernaut in GE14 by riding on the anti-Najib 1MDB controversy wave.
Interestingly, Dr Mahathir is also known for his immortal one-liners with the most memorable one being “Melayu mudah lupa”; but has this true blue politician just added another feather to his cap with his most recent quip that “politicians would lie…if there is a chance!” – and in the process spilled the beans on what many have always suspected to be the truth?
Information source: The Edge and Malaysiakini
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