Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, joining anti-government protesters for a second day yesterday, called for a “people’s power” movement to topple Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak over a financial scandal.
“The only way for the people to get back to the old system is for them to remove this prime minister,” said Mahathir, a deeply respected 90-year-old who was once Najib’s patron and is now his fiercest critic.
“And to remove him, the people must show people’s power. The people as a whole do not want this kind of corrupt leader,” he told media before heading to the rally, whose numbers police estimated at 25,000 yesterday afternoon.
Photo: AP
“I think he [Najib] will not step down,” Mahathir said. “He knows when he has no power, he may be made to face the court. The court may find him guilty and he may have to go to jail.”
“If the government ignores the law, we have to demonstrate. If you look at [former Philippine president Ferdinand] Marcos, when he was ruling the Philippines they had to overthrow him through demonstrations,” Mahathir said.
The protest has brought into the streets a political crisis triggered by reports of a mysterious transfer worth more than US$600 million into an account under Najib’s name.
Photo: Bloomberg
Najib, who has denied any wrongdoing, has weathered the storm and analysts say the protest is unlikely to inspire broad public support for him to quit because it lacks a strong leader.
These protests, unlike the 2012 rally, also lack the support of a party identified with the Malay majority: most protesters were from the minority ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.
However, Mahathir — the country’s longest-serving leader — was a leader of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which represents Malays.
UMNO vice president Hishammuddin Hussein said that by turning up unexpectedly at the anti-government rally on Saturday, Mahathir had “crossed over the line.”
Another UMNO leader said a million government supporters would stage a “red shirts” rally on Oct. 10 that would trump the protests of the past two days.
“This shows the solidarity of Malaysians, that Najib still has the majority support,” Jamal Yunos said.
Security remained tight and anti-riot trucks stood ready, but there were no reports of violence.
In a sign that the government was losing patience, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi warned organizers that they could face legal action.
“They must face the consequences if they dare to break the law,” he said, according to a New Straits Times online report.
The national news agency Bernama said 12 people in Malacca were arrested for wearing the signature yellow T-shirts of the protests, which the government had banned before the rally.
Malaysia has been gripped since last month by reports that investigators probing allegations of mismanagement and corruption at the debt-laden state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad had discovered the transfer into Najib’s account.
Its anti-corruption agency has said the funds were a donation from an unidentified Middle East donor.
Najib, who says he did not take any money for personal gain, has sacked his deputy and ministers who had questioned him as he sought to contain the scandal. The attorney-general who had been investigating 1MDB was also replaced.
Authorities also suspended two newspapers and blocked access
to a Web site that had reported extensively on 1MDB.
Additional reporting by AFP
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