Harapan accountable for Dr Mahathir’s ‘dubious decisions’ — Activist

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Ha rap an will have to be accountable for former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s ‘dubious decisions’ when in power, said human rights activist Kua Kia Soong.

The Malay Mail reported that Kua said this is because the opposition coalition has picked Dr Mahathir as its chairman.

“Well, now that Mahathir has been made the chairperson of the coalition, Harapan will have to answer all his scandals,” the Suaram adviser said in a statement yesterday.

Among them is Bank Negara Malaysia’s alleged losses of over RM30 billion in foreign exchange during Dr Mahathir’s tenure as prime minister in the 1990s.

Kua also labelled Dr Mahathir’s appointment to be a betrayal to the ‘reformasi’ movement formed in the wake of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s 1998 sacking from government.

“Do Harapan leaders still remember what their ‘reformasi’ agenda stands for?” he asked.

Kua pointed out that Dr Mahathir has not apologised for past human rights issues that happened during his tenure, such as the infamous Ops Lalang in 1987 where many activists and politicians were detained without trial.

In the past, Kua, who was detained under Ops Lalang for 445 days, has demanded an apology from Dr Mahathir over the operations.

Dr Mahathir also recently defended his past statements in which he had claimed that Anwar was “unfit” to be prime minister, saying that his opinions were valid according to the “circumstances” of that time.

However, more recently, Dr Mahathir has said he would back Anwar to lead if it was the “people’s choice”.