Malaysian Insider March 14, 2009 By Shannon Teoh
KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — More than a month after Barisan Nasional ousted Pakatan Rakyat from Perak, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said the takeover was not done according to the law.
He said mistakes, bad strategy and carelessness in the Feb 5 power grab, orchestrated by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had led to the current crisis in the state.
“You cannot topple a menteri besar or a prime minister without a no-confidence vote in the assembly. There is no other provision,” he said at a function organised by Mubarak, the association for former elected representatives.
“Umno-BN was too careless and did not wait for an assembly but instead asked the Ruler to sack the menteri besar,” he said, referring to Sultan Azlan Shah’s decision to ask Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin to resign.
“As far as I know, there is no such provision in the Perak or Federal Constitution,” he said.
Dr Mahathir said that BN should have done it properly and not “be in conflict with the law” as the courts may now rule that the Sultan has no right to sack a menteri besar.
He added that a Sultan could only reject a candidate for one of his choice after an election but even this candidate could be defeated in the assembly by a vote.
The veteran politician said BN should have “followed the laws of the country, especially the constitution.”
“Because this may be in conflict with the law, we find that people will not comply.
Because we started on the wrong foot, people are now against us,” said Dr Mahathir, who quit Umno last year in a long-running feud with his successor Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The Perak power grab is now mired in a series of lawsuits, with both sides claiming to be the legitimate government.
Six people have also been charged with insulting the Perak Ruler after he backed BN to govern the state. One has pleaded guilty and was fined RM10,000 yesterday while five others claimed trial.
Umno has said those who opposed the Sultan’s decision are committing treason.
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Dr M: A corrupt cabinet will lead to Najib’s downfall Malaysiakini Mar 14, 2009 Andrew Ong
The country’s fourth Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has openly called for the public to vote against Barisan Nasional should incoming premier Najib Abdul Razak fail to act on corruption.
Mahathir said this during the Q&A session after his lecture on “Democracy and the Future Leadership of Malaysia” at the Tun Hussein Onn Memorial in Kuala Lumpur today, adding that it is widely known who the corrupt leaders are.
“Najib will choose his cabinet members and if he chooses this type of people, then he is signing his death warrant. We will make sure he loses,” he said at the lecture organised by the Former People’s Representatives Council (Mubarak).
Mahathir had waged a campaign against his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s administration for several years and has been increasingly critical of Najib of late.
Najib will officially be declared Umno president on March 26 during the Umno general assembly, but it is unclear when he officially takes reign as prime minister.
Najib is expected to take over from Abdullah as part of a succession plan, but Mahathir is still not convinced that everything would go as planned.
Will Pak Lah stay on?
Mahathir said that it is purely a party convention that the Umno president is appointed prime minister, but this is not required in law.
From his own experience, Mahathir said , third Prime Minister Hussein Onn did not relinquish his post until two weeks after the former was appointed party president in 1981.
“The chances of this happening (now) is possible. He may say: I still got a lot of work to do (crowd roars with laughter) and I will continue as prime minister.
“If this happens, then we are in for a big problem. We can try to eliminate him with a vote of no-confidence. But if half of the BN MPs support him and the opposition fully backs him, he will win and continue as prime minister for the opposition.
“Moreover, lately he met Anwar. Not just met, but it was a ‘coincidence’ and they had a four-eye meeting. We don’t know what they discussed. Lets just wait for March 26,” he said.
To a question on whether Najib is capable of stabilising the country, Mahathir said that it would depend on how vigilant the public and Umno members are in scrutinising the former’s actions.
Dr M on unity government
Mahathir added that Najib was a “good administrator, but politically weak”.
“He didn’t come up from the bottom (grassroots). Suddenly, he came back from Europe (after his studies) and was chosen to replace his father. We are sentimental towards his father, so we support him.
“But he does not know the ins and outs of grassroots politics. He only knows politics from above,” said Mahathir.