ALOR SETAR: The BERSIH 3.0 demonstration in Kuala Lumpur on April 28 which was led by the opposition parties aimed to discredit the government because they are not confident of winning the next general election.
Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said through the rally, they accused the government of cheating in the election to reject the democratic result.
“….so they want to topple the government through the demonstration and Nik Aziz (PAS spiritual leader) said it is permissible to bring down the government in this manner (demonstration).
“They want to make Malaysia like Egypt, Tunisia which were brought down through riots and now Syria…. when the government does not fall, (they) can appeal to the foreign power to help and bring down, even if it means using fire power.
“The people must think and should not allow this thing to happen by giving a big win to the BN (Barisan Nasional) in the next general election,” he said when delivering his speech at the Statesman’s Discourse organised by the Association of Former BN Elected Representatives (Mubarak), here last night.
Dr Mahathir said the opposition would continue to create problems so that the government would look bad and dirty and thus had to be cleansed by the people.
He said a weak government could easily be blackmailed and must entertain all kinds of blackmail to the extent that opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim dared to announce that he would form the government on Sept 26, 2008 although this did not materialise.
In this regard, Dr Mahathir urged Umno members to check this bad practice of bringing down candidates fielded in order to ‘teach’ the party president for not selecting them.
On Anwar Ibrahim, Dr Mahathir said his former deputy was impatient to become prime minister and had planned to achieve his goal since he was imprisoned.
He said a landslide victory for the BN in the next general election would enable the rakyat to continue to enjoy progress and prosperity.
“Malaysia’s achievement now is most amazing and far more progressive because the British, when they colonised Malaya then, had disgraced the Malays who were described as stupid and incapable of administering the country.
“The success was due to the deeds of the BN (previously Alliance) and now it is still a model country to most of the Islamic nations which has led some people to be very keen on becoming the prime minister,” he said.
Also present were Mubarak national chairman, Datuk Seri Abdul Aziz Rahman, Kedah Mubarak chairman, Datuk Abdul Rahman Ibrahim and former Umno leaders. — BERNAMA