COMPARING Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Steve Bannon, the American ultra-right propagandist who created conspiracies to get Donald Trump elected, Datuk Seri Wilfred Madius Tangau has urged voters at the forthcoming state polls to send the former premier to “permanent retirement”.
According to the Tuaran MP, Mahathir who lost his deposit in the 15th general election (GE15) has become “Malaysia’s Bannon” in his “desperation to fight off his political irrelevance”.
“We can send Dr Mahathir into permanent retirement if 60% of eligible voters who voted for the unity government parties and 26% who did not vote in GE15 join forces to vote down hatred spread by him and his fellow bigots like Kedah MB Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor and PAS president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang,” Madius said in a statement today (July 24).
“Malaysia-loving voters in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, Penang, Selangor and Negri Sembilan, on Aug 12, please remember Dr Mahathir’s venom and go out to vote down extremism. Send our Bannon into permanent retirement.”
Madius went on to cite Dr Mahathir’s purported letter dated July 20 which was published in veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin’s blog.
In the letter, Dr Mahathir warned that a Chinese Malaysian can be the prime minister by GE17.
“How can that be possible when Chinese Malaysians make up less than a fifth of the population and less than a sixth of the Parliament and get insulted as ‘pendatang’ every other day by Dr Mahathir and his company?” he questioned.
“Truth never matters to Bannons worldwide. Only fear and hatred matter. They want to terrify half of the population into fearing and hating the other half, and if the hated half despairs and quits, Bannons win fully.”
Madius reminded voters of British statesman Edmund Burke’s words that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
“Let’s treat every venom spat out by Dr Mahathir and company as a call for each and every one of us to go and vote down extremism, hatred and lies,” he added.
“In GE15, out of every 100 eligible voters, only 22 voted for Perikatan Nasional (PN) while 28 voted for Pakatan Harapan (PH), 16 voted for Barisan Nasional (BN), 5 voted for Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) and Parti Warisan, and 26 stayed back at home. Show them the majority.”
Dr Mahathir, who recently made his debut appearance on a PAS stage in Kelantan, had rallied voters to ensure PN’s victory in the forthcoming six state polls on Aug 12.
Addressing a crowd of thousands gathered at Stadium Sultan Muhammad IV in Kota Bharu, Mahathir said the Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin-led PN must make a clean sweep in all six states, of which three are now held by PH. – July 24, 2023
