KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — Umno members and Malaysians could not criticise Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad before as they would have been punished for doing so, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said today.
Speaking during his policy speech at the Umno Youth assembly here, Khairy also questioned if Dr Mahathir would have gained two-thirds majority in the five elections he faced if social media had existed during the latter’s rule.
“There was barely any alternative media. All the spin and stories were specified by him, those who did not follow this were sent to jail,” he said.
“If there had been the internet, blogs and social media in his time, I’d like to see if he would still have won a two-thirds majority,” he added.
Khairy said that Umno leaders were only now criticising Dr Mahathir’s administration openly as they were at last able to do so.
“There was never any freedom of speech before, be it outside or inside the party,” he added.
Khairy said that Dr Mahathir winning two-thirds majority during his tenure without fail was not an indication he was a better leader.
“Those who fall for this misplaced nostalgia forget that the political environment is very different today from how it was,” he said.
“Papers that were critical were shut down. Political critics were silenced and put in jail under Ops Lalang. To silence his opponents, the Memali tragedy occurred, ostensibly on the grounds of national security,” he added.
“Courts were controlled to the point that a chief justice was removed without strong basis,” he said.
