[Malaysia] Dr M Not Ready to Make Peace

Dr M not ready to make peace with Anwar

Malaysiakini, Aug 18, 2005


Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad is not yet prepared to smoke the peace pipe with his ex deputy-turned-nemesis Anwar Ibrahim.

In an interview with the Singapore-based Channel NewsAsia (CNA), he said Anwar had damaged his reputation beyond repair "Anybody writing about me never fails to mention as if I caught him by the scruff of his neck and threw him in jail," he was quoted as saying in a Bernama report on the interview.

Mahathir was also asked whether the notion that there was no permanent enemy or permanent ally in politics applied to him and Anwar, to which he replied: “We haven't come to the stage of impermanency yet". The former premier had sacked Anwar in 1998 on morality grounds. He was later charged and convicted of corruption and sodomy.

Anwar, who was released from prison last year after his sodomy conviction was quashed by the Federal Court, had always claimed to be the victim of a political conspiracy.

The Proton saga

Meanwhile, Mahathir in the CNA interview also dismissed the notion that he was still "pulling the strings" in the current administration. However, he said that he had to come out in the open when he was drawn into an issue. "I'm a retired person....I made a resolution on stepping down that I would not bother the government unless of course somehow or other, whatever I am doing...like the present Proton issue...I was drawn into it," he said in the 30-minute interview aired last night.

Elaborating on the Proton controversy, Mahathir, who is Proton advisor, said he took a protective stand of the national car as it was facing an unfair competition. He had alleged that the uncontrolled issuance of Approved Permits (APs ) to import cars by the International Trade and Industry Ministry had caused the entry of relatively cheap foreign-made cars into the country as well as the malpractice of under-declaration which had jeopardised the sales of the national car.

The former prime minister had also questioned why the APs were monopolised by certain bumiputera businessmen. As a result of his remarks, the Prime Minister's Department issued a list of AP recipients between 2004 and 2005. Coming under fire because of the issue was International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz.

There were calls for her to resign while certain quarters demanded that she apologise to Mahathir. Unfair competition Asked about how serious his exchange was with Rafidah, Mahathir said: "Not serious...I only want the facts to be known because I claim that the issuance of APs has got a damaging effect on Proton because it creates an unfair competition".

"I'm not asking for an apology. All I'm asking is to give the facts and figures," he added He said Proton would be able to compete with foreign-made cars had the competition been on a level playing field. "For example, these cars are brought into the country and under-declared to the customs so they are very cheap and because of that, they are able to give discounts and promote and sell these cars against Proton,” he added.

Proton, on the other hand, was burdened with conditions imposed by the government, he said. "Proton is asked to develop vendors, to create bumiputera agencies in the country. All these cost a lot of money to Proton and because of this, it is unable to compete on a level playing field with international products. "If Proton is allowed to build the car without regard for whether the components come locally or from elsewhere, if Proton is free from having to support local vendors, free from having to create bumiputera (businesses) then it can compete with international cars, no problem," he said.

When asked whether he would allow foreign companies to take over Proton, Mahathir replied: "(If that is the case) then it will not be a national car". Not being a national car, it need not carry any burden that is national, he said, adding that the matter was for the government and not him to decide.