Abdullah can't be blamed for Mahathir legacy, says The Edge

Abdullah can't be blamed for Mahathir legacy, says The Edge

Posted by labisman
Monday, 17 March 2008, MT

KUALA LUMPUR, March 17 – The Edge financial daily published a strong editorial in today’s edition, condemning the new MP and a son of the former prime minister, Mukhriz Mahathir’s call for the present Prime Minister to resign. The paper called on Malaysians to support Abdullah instead.

“If he falls, the Mahathirites in Umno would have won and the country could be headed down the slippery slope of more corruption, abuse of power and an even dirtier judiciary again,” the newspaper said in its leading editorial.

It argued that Abdullah could not be expected to undo in his five years as PM, the legacy of 22 years of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s rule.

It accused the Mahathir administration of sidelining the Barisan Nasional component parties. ”Power was centred on Umno, and in particular, Mahathir.”

It added that the partners of Umno “dare not even stand up to the likes of Umno Youth Chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, even though they were aware that his keris antics had angered the non-Malay community”.

It also blamed the Mahathir administration for allowing widespread corruption, “the disintegration of the judiciary and the neglect of the rural and urban poor as the government focused on ambitious projects that soaked up billions… all the consequences of 22 years of Mahathirism”.

It noted that Abdullah has done “a few good things”, including setting up the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the famous Lingam tape. “If Mahathir were still in power, the Attorney-General would have declared that there was no case to investigate and the video would have been destroyed – like what happened to the sex video involving former Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker D. P. Vijandran in 1992,” the paper said.

It also noted that Abdullah had opened more space for civil society groups, and moved away from dictatorship. “His mistake, of course, was that he over-promised the people in the 2004 election.” He faced resistance from many power blocs, including the police top brass, which resisted setting up a commission to investigate abuse in the force, the paper said. (themalaysiainsider)