KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 — Malaysia’s second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak Hussein was a stout advocate of a democratic government even though he was given power to rule through the then security council in the wake of the 1969 race riots, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today.

Abdullah, who was the fifth prime minister, said Abdul Razak was a firm believer in a government by the people, and as such, chose to return the power concentrated in his hands as chairman of the now defunct National Operations Council (NOC) — also known by its Malay acronym Mageran — to Parliament, once the emergency period caused by the May 13 riots ended.

"I was at a meeting where all the Mageran members were and everybody was keeping quiet. He then decided what he wanted to do… away with Mageran. He wanted to go back to Parliament.

"Tun Razak, he is a man who is a person who believed in democracy, who liked to go into Parliament and not into any other organisation," the Penang-born popularly known by his moniker Pak Lah said in his speech at a seminar celebrating the late Abdul Razak’s leadership here.

Abdul Razak was prime minister from September 22, 1970 until his death while in office on January 14, 1976.

The NOC operated from 1969 till 1971 following a proclamation of emergency by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong, which saw martial law evoked to deal with high racial tensions due to ethnic clashes between Malays and Chinese that left hundreds dead and more injured.

In his speech earlier, Abdul Razak’s nephew and Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein voiced similar sentiments.

Hishammuddin said that while Abdul Razak could have conveniently held on to power using the NOC as an excuse by citing racial tensions, he chose otherwise.

“It would have been easy for Tun Razak to have continued to govern Malaysia via the National Operations Council by citing racial tensions.

“However, he chose to not to take this route and submitted to the judgement of the voters,” he said.

He added that it was because of this decision that many voters subsequently picked the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition as they approved of Abdul Razak’s policies, which kept their faith in democracy.

“There is a saying that fortune favours the bold and this was something Tun Razak lived by,” Hishamuddin said.