OLEH NAZLI IBRAHIM
BY: NAZLI IBRAHIM
PETALING JAYA, DEC 23: One by one, damages to the country caused by Datuk Seri Najib Razak has changed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s stand to now support peaceful demonstrations by students.
The former Prime Minister said that Najib’s era of administration has sealed all legal channels for any party to stop his treacherous acts against the trust of the rakyat.
“If we make police reports, we get arrested; try complaining to Dewan Rakyat, the representatives have also been bribed.
“We go to the Sultans, nothing happens. So what other avenue do we have?” he said during the forum on University and University College Act (AUKU) at the MalaysiaKini office, on December 22.
At the same time, he said the opposition has no freedom to speak in Dewan Rakyat as they risk being arrested and charged in court, as befell Pandan Member of Parliament Rafizi Ramli.
He said, things were different during his administration as all representatives were free to speak without worry of being arrested and charged in court.
“They used to say call me many names; ‘maha firaun’, ‘maha zalim’ and said that I engaged in bribery. But I have never sued them,” he said.
Explaining the reason for him enforcing the AUKU at one time, Tun Mahathir said that it was due to the education level of the Malays which was far behind compared to that of the Chinese and Indians.
“In those days when I was studying, there were no universities yet; only colleges, so opportunities were limited.
“So, we had to make full use of the opportunities to pass our exams, especially when our studies were funded by public funds,” he said.
Why Tun M supports students demonstrating
