Dr M lucky no social media then: NGO
Published on: Tuesday, October 06, 2015
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah-based Pakatan NGO Pro BN President Zulkarnain Mahdar said former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad never appreciated the contribution and support of Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia during his long tenure as then Prime Minister for 22 years."Young people who have never tasted life during his leadership may believe what he says."But not those who experienced his leadership. I believe they are not gullible and would not be easily influenced by anything he says against the present government under Dato' Seri Mohd Najib Razak.ADVERTISEMENT "During his leadership people's voices and minds were restricted and controlled. Many had been jailed through the then Internal Security Act (ISA) without trial in the Court," he said.Zulkarnain, who is an Umno member, said some Sabah leaders who were very vocal in the past were also not exempted from the ISA Act and opposition newspapers such as Harakah, for instance, were not allowed to be sold.Such restriction, he said caused those Malaysians who are not PAS members and wanted to read the Harakah paper to do so in private and with full caution.In addition, he said, mainstream newspapers were fully monitored and prohibited from publishing any article that criticise or attack Tun Dr Mahathir and his way of leadership.ADVERTISEMENT "In comparison to Najib, there is a huge difference between these two prominent leaders where the Malaysians irrespective of race, culture, faiths and political ideologies are allowed to practice freedom of speech in line with the concept of democracy under the current leadership of Najib."It is even obvious in Najib's Facebook where the Malaysians are so free to critic Najib openly and he is so open in receiving the criticisms with an open heart.
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"I believe if this Facebook had existed during the era of Tun Dr Mahathir where Malaysians could openly critic him may land them in hot soup," he said.Under Najib's leadership, Zulkarnain said ISA Act has been abolished for the sake of allowing freedom of the mind among Malaysians where even Opposition media and newspapers can also be bought anywhere in the country.In fact, he said Tun Dr Mahathir never appointed Members of Parliament from Sabah and Sarawak to hold senior full ministership in the Federal Cabinet.Even the full minister post under Tun Dr Mahathir, he said, was given to Sabah MP was a trivial ministry which was the Cooperative and Land Minister including secretary generals of several ministries that have less importance.The past incidents during Tun Dr Mahathir were obviously different from Najib where the latter appointed 13 MPs from Sabah and Sarawak to fill up senior Federal Ministers and deputies ministers, Zulkarnain said."Najib has also provides opportunities to eligible Sabahan to be the Speaker of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of Dewan Rakyat which directly recognise contributions of Sabah and Sarawak that formed Malaysia."Not only that, Najib also appreciates the civil servants when he appointed some Sabahans for the first time to be Federal secretary generals which will never happen during Tun Dr Mahathir's era."Furthermore, Najib has also pledged to give more transfer of powers to Sabah and Sarawak soon as his appreciation and recognition to the states," he said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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Due to high appreciation of Najib to Sabah and Sarawak, Zulkarnain said it is not a surprise that Sabah and Sarawak would continue to fully support Najib and his leadership until the coming 14th General Election."Tun Dr Mahathir can come to Sabah and do what he wants to instigate or provoke the people of Sabah, but I believe that the people of Sabah and the Barisan Nasional (BN) members are mature enough to see and evaluate the goodness between Tun Dr Mahathir and Dato' Seri Najib," he said.