Mahathir: Only we can save ourselves
Dr M: Community lost its leadership and direction after being betrayed by Umno
Bersatu’s annual general meeting sees its chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad calling on the Malays to save their own race. Training his guns on Umno as ‘corrupt and no more’, which let the race down, he says Bersatu must now be the guardian of Malay rights.
PUTRAJAYA: The Malays should realise that they are in a precarious situation as Umno, which was set up to safeguard their rights, has betrayed them and only they can save their own race, says Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Instead of being the guardians of Malay rights, he said Umno leaders started the rot in 2003 when all they did was to enrich themselves.
(Dr Mahathir handed over the premiership in 2003.)
“Do not lie to ourselves. Calling ourselves ‘master’ won’t make us masters if we are still coolies to others.
“The Malays today are confused; lost its leadership and direction. Umno is no more. Which party can they depend on? If not for Bersatu, which party? PAS? It is not my choice,” he said.
Addressing the Bersatu annual general meeting yesterday, he noted that prior to Bersatu’s formation, corruption was rampant not only among political leaders but also members of the government.
“The leaders of the government were the main culprits. The people suffered with high costs of products and services. The services from the government were also costly due to bribes. Businessmen were forced to pay taxes not in accordance with the laws.
“The slogan of the country was ‘cash is king’.”
He spoke of how Umno became a dictatorship whose only role was to protect its top leadership.
“Stolen money was thrown to the people to gain support, and bribery was rampant. Umno leaders who were uneasy with this tried to steer Umno back to the right path but failed. There was no service but more money was borrowed in the name of the government to be given to the rakyat to buy their support,” said Dr Mahathir.
He said Umno leaders who saw the need for change left the party but realised that they needed to still set up a Malay-based party to gain the support of the Malays to defeat Umno.
Dr Mahathir also said that Bersatu would not accept ex-Umno members easily.
“If they are accepted, they cannot hold positions until the 15th General Election. Only if they are honest and have left the culture of Umno can they be accepted to hold positions,” he said.
And as the bumiputra tend to stay in the rural areas, Dr Mahathir also pointed out that this made the income gap larger between those in the urban and rural areas.
The bumiputra, he said, need to gain knowledge and skills to succeed but they are so far behind so there was a necessity for a bumiputra-based political party such as Bersatu to protect their interests.
Although Bersatu is part of the government, he said the party should not be arrogant.
“With success comes a heavy responsibility. We have to fulfil our promises in the manifesto when we campaigned,” he said.
He, however, said the damage by the previous government was more severe than thought.
“Unfortunately, the people are already tired and are no more interested in the wrongdoings of the old government. They want to see the results of recovery by us.”
He said that assistance would continue to be given to those who need it but they must “drop the walking stick as soon as they are strong enough”.
“Believe it, Malays can save themselves. Believe it that only Malays can do so,” said Dr Mahathir.