Mahathir faces fake news investigation
MALAYSIA POLICE PROBE FORMER PRIME MINISTER’S SABOTAGE CLAIM JUST DAYS BEFORE KNIFE-EDGE ELECTION
Malaysian opposition leader Mahathir Mohamad is under investigation for allegedly spreading “fake news” after claiming his plane was sabotaged, police said yesterday, just days before a closely-fought election.
Former prime minister Mahathir, 92, is seeking to oust his former protégé, Prime Minister Najeeb Razzak, in the general election next Wednesday at the head of an opposition alliance.
As campaigning got under way at the weekend, Mahathir claimed that there had been an attempt to sabotage a plane he had chartered to prevent him heading to the island of Langkawi to formally register his candidacy for the election.
He still made it to the island by taking another plane. Malaysia’s civil aviation authority and the charter company said there was a technical issue with the plane but rejected the allegations of sabotage.
Crackdown on dissent
Kuala Lumpur police said a report had been lodged accusing Mahathir of spreading “fake news” under a controversial new law, which critics say is aimed at cracking down on dissent before the poll. “We have opened an investigation [into Mahathir] under the anti-fake news law,” the capital’s police chief Mazlan Lazim said.
The law aimed at combating fake news was pushed through parliament last month despite an outcry by the opposition and media watchdogs. It punishes dissemination of any news deemed “wholly or partly fake” with up to six years in jail or a hefty fine.
Critics say it is aimed at silencing criticism of Najeeb, and in particular the scandal surrounding sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
Najeeb is battling allegations that billions of dollars were looted from the fund — which he set up — in a campaign of fraud and money-laundering. The leader and 1MDB deny any wrongdoing.
Mahathir split from Najeeb’s coalition in 2016 amid a falling out with the premier over issues including the handling of a financial scandal at a state investment fund, and has since formed his own party within the opposition alliance.
Opposition’s best chance
He’s seeking to unseat the United Malays National Organisation, a party that has held power since independence in 1957 with the support of ethnic Malay voters in the predominantly Muslim nation.
Mahathir might represent the opposition’s best chance yet, given his potential to draw Malays away from the UMNO-led Barisan Nasional coalition.
In the lead up to the May 9 vote, Mahathir has seen a ban on the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan using its own logo or his photos in campaign materials. His party faced a 30day prohibition on campaigning for not providing the correct documents to authorities, though that has since been suspended by a court order.