KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 2 — Another critic has questioned the sincerity of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s “apology” for past wrongs, noting that the former prime minister added a disclaimer soon after.
Suaram adviser Kua Kia Soong also noted that the former prime minister was vague with his apparent apology, and asked if Dr Mahathir would accept a similarly nonchalant apology from his own rivals.
“Before I could respond to Mahathir’s supposed apology, he had already ‘de-apologised’! All the excited crypto-Mahathiristas who had hailed this mother of hollow apologies were quickly left disappointed…” Kua said in a statement today.
Kua was among the 119 people detained during the Ops Lalang security crackdown when Dr Mahathir was still prime minister, and remains one of the latter’s most trenchant critics today.
He added that the unclear apology cast doubt on whether Dr Mahathir actually felt remorse for any of his previous decisions, including those that continue to affect Malaysians today.
Among these were Dr Mahathir’s alleged interference in the judiciary and the neutering of some of the country’s other institutions, he said.
Malaysia also lost tens of billions from policies made by Dr Mahathir, Kua said when noting that the former prime minister did not address any of these in his apparent apology last weekend.
“First of all, does he even accept that there were terrible violations of human rights and financial scandals during his term in office?” Kua asked.
Dr Mahathir issued a general apology for past wrongs during his speech at the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) annual assembly on Saturday, but later said the apology did not mean he was admitting to any particular wrongdoing.
