Kit Siang praises Mahathir for building New Malaysia

PETALING JAYA: DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang has congratulated Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on building a new political legacy based on “democracy, justice and unity”.

Lim said Dr Mahathir made Malaysia into a top-class nation on the international stage, making it now a “beacon of light in a disturbed and distracted world”.

The Iskandar Puteri MP said this during a speech at the Kelantan DAP Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house in Kota Baru on Monday.

He said political leaders in the country had much to learn after the 14th General Election, an election where Malaysians chose a “clean, just, free, democratic, and united Malaysia”.

He believes that many who had voted for Barisan Nasional during GE14 would have voted for Pakatan Harapan had the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal and other scandals connected to the previous government had been more widely known.

“I do not believe that the 35-40% of Malays who voted for Barisan and the 30-33% who supported PAS in GE14 wanted to vote for kleptocracy, abuses and excesses of power as well as the various forms of injustices and oppression under Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

“If the general election was held after the truth about 1MDB scandal and other 1MDBlike corruption in Mara, Felda and other public bodies become widely known, the majority of Malay voters would have supported Pakatan to fight kleptocracy and to ensure Malaysia stands for clean and honest government and not a corrupt and decadent government.

“Umno-BN would not have secured 35-40% of the Malay votes or PAS won 30-33% of the Malay votes,” he said, citing Merdeka Centre’s estimation that 35-40% of Malays voted Barisan, another 30-33% supported PAS, and the remaining 25-30% voted for Pakatan Harapan.