KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has no right to talk about trust as he had betrayed the trust of Malaysians with his unilateral actions during his time as prime minister, Tawfik Ismail has said.
In an interview with the News Straits Times published today, the son of Malaysia’s second deputy prime minister Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman said that Malaysians were now “paying” for the mistakes made during Dr Mahathir’s administration.
“So, I think he shouldn’t be talking about trust. In terms of his ability to do good and keep the trust of the people, I think he has failed in many ways,” Tawfik reportedly said.
An example of this, he said, was when Dr Mahathir had allowed Umno to be declared unlawful so that it could be reconstituted to exclude and include some personalities.
“He damaged the judiciary (the Malaysian constitutional crisis) and that is a big betrayal. Now, the judiciary cannot act as independently as it had before the late (former Lord President) Tun Salleh Abas’ episode,” Tawfik was quoted saying further.
Tawfik also blamed Dr Mahathir for the recent toll hikes, saying that the former prime minister had allowed and legitimised a non-transparent way of running things.
“Whose fault is that? Who made the initial agreement between the government and concessionaires?” he asked.
In an interview with news portal The Malaysian Insider recently, Tawfik blamed Dr Mahathir and his policies for the rapid Islamisation of the country and for creating racial tension.
In response, Dr Mahathir said Tawfik’s remarks were made in bad taste and stemmed from the G25 member’s personal dislike toward him.
“He’s entitled to say what he likes. I know he doesn’t like me, why he has come see me with others is beyond me,” he said.
