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Tun M Admitted It Was Najib Who Delivered Pakatan Harapan’s Victory in GE 2018, He Himself Only Played a Minor Role.
By Mihar Dias
(C) Copyright June 2022
So much had been said about the “Mahathir’s Effect” in Malaysia’s General Election of 2018 that a member of the audience at a political convention in Jakarta, four years later (June 2022) was moved to ask him about his role and influence in leading Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) success then.
But Tun M downplayed his role and humbly claimed that he only had a minor part in contributing to the PH coalition’s historic victory in 2018 that led to the downfall of the ruling party, Barisan Nasional (BN).
Instead, he attributed the win to Najib Razak, the leader of the BN coalition that suffered a major loss for the first time in the nation’s history.
Speaking at the national convention of Indonesia’s party NasDem recently, Tun M said a majority of Malaysians then had wanted Najib out of the government.
That he attributed as the main element that determined the outcome of the 2018 election. Tun M said the whole of Malaysia felt that Najib was no longer qualified to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
“He was involved in stealing money so openly, and this was not only revealed in Malaysia but the case is also mentioned in the US court. Malaysians are embarrassed and they want to change the government. I might only have contributed a little to PH’s victory,” he said.
Two years before that election, (February 2016) Tun M had quit UMNO in protest against the rampant corruption within the government under Najib’s leadership.
He subsequently formed a splinter party Bersatu, that later cooperated with PKR, DAP and Amanah to topple BN.
Meanwhile, Najib is facing multiple charges of corruption and was sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined RM210 million for corruption involving SRC International Sdn Bhd. He has since filed an appeal at the Federal Court.
This is the first time a question about his role was ever asked at a major political convention anywhere.
Indonesia, our neighbour had always kept up with political developments in Malaysia and many are still in awe of the elder statesman and his contributions to nation-building.
In fact, he is still highly regarded by many in Indonesia as one of the best prime ministers Malaysia ever had.
The recent invitation to address the National Working Meeting of the NasDem Party at the JCC, Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday, June 17, a gathering organised by the largest pro-government party is yet another testimony of Indonesia’s recognition of Tun Mahathir as a highly respected leader.
Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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