MUAFAKAT Nasional deputy president Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin has applauded Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) decision to appoint former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the unofficial adviser to the four states under its control.
The former Ampang MP said it is clear that Dr Mahathir’s appointment is not a political move but rather, one that allows the four PN states to gain access to investment from other developed Asian countries that will have a positive impact on the states’ development.
“This is a very good move as Dr Mahathir remains influential at international level where he has maintained close relations not only with developed countries in Asia but also with European countries in addition to Arab, Africa and Latin America,” Zuraida said in a statement today (Sept 18).
“Appointing Dr Mahathir as an adviser will strengthen bilateral relations between these four states with the outside world while also being able to attract foreign direct investment, technology exchange and increase bilateral trade activities which will benefit all four states and indirectly also help the development of Malaysia’s economy.”
On Thursday (Sept 14) Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar announced that PN has chosen Dr Mahathir, whom it ousted as prime minister back in 2020, to be the unofficial adviser to the four PN-led states.
Samsuri said the menteris besar of the four states would be discussing an action plan for the group that’s been called the “State Government 4” or “SG4”.
Zuraida went on to slam thePakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) leaders – specifically Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak and Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang – who had mocked the appointment.
On Friday (Sept 15) Salleh claimed Dr Mahathir’s appointment is aimed at projecting the elderly statesman as the PN coalition’s de facto leader, further suggesting this was why PN chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was not invited to a meeting between Dr Mahathir and several PAS leaders earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Lim had said Dr Mahathir is “eating his own words” following the 98-year-old politician’s appointment as unofficial adviser to the four PAS-led states.
In a statement yesterday (Sept 17), Lim said he was reminded of Dr Mahathir’s view that PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang – through his 1981 declaration that UMNO “was a party of kafir (infidels)” – had been responsible for sowing division among Malay-Muslims.
Zuraida said both Salleh and Lim have a very “narrow and superficial view” on the matter as they were only able to see everything from a literal perspective and had failed to comprehend that Dr Mahathir’s appointment had nothing to do with politics but was done for the sake of the people’s development in the four northern states.
“Dr Mahathir who is a world-renowned figure should be given a space to dispense his advice and views as he has experience not only in forming or drafting state economic policies but also in analysing the increasingly complex world political scenario,” she asserted.
“By right, Dr Mahathir’s appointment ought to be praised by all parties rather than criticised and linked to the country’s endless political feuds.” – Sept 18, 2023
Main pic credit: The Edge Markets
