SHAH ALAM, Dec 30 ― Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad ended his keynote speech at Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s (PPBM) inaugural annual general meeting today by apologising for his faults.
The veteran statesman, who was previously the country’s longest-serving prime minister for 22 years, said it is normal for humans to make mistakes.
“I, like any human, have never missed from saying and doing wrong, not just today, but as long as I have been in national politics.
“I apologise for whatever fault I’ve done all that time,” the PPBM chairman said
During his administration, Dr Mahathir was blamed for among others the 1987 Ops Lalang, which was credited with giving the now defunct Internal Security Act (ISA) the reputation of being a “white terror”, after the security law was used to detain 119 people.
Ops Lalang and the use of the ISA then had prompted Malaysia’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, to remark that the country was undeniably “on the road to dictatorship”.
In October, human rights group Suaram had then demanded an apology from Dr Mahathir over Ops Lalang.
Dr Mahathir had also earned public ire when he jailed his then deputy Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, kicking off the “Reformasi” movement. The two have since patched up their relationship.
