A political mystery is finally solved

I WOULD like to thank Karpal Singh for solving a mystery which had bothered me over the last five years i.e. ever since I stepped down as Prime Minister.
I had been used to the BN and even the Alliance Government before it, being criticised and attacked by DAP MPs even for imaginary misdeeds by them. However, after Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over, even the clear abuses of power and wrong actions by the Government were hardly commented upon by DAP stalwarts like Karpal and Lim Kit Siang.
I was puzzled. I could not believe the suggestion that there was a “pakat” (conspiracy) involving Abdullah and the DAP. But when Karpal advised me to retire with dignity and honour and refrain from criticising the present Prime Minister, I realised that the DAP actually supports Datuk Seri Abdullah and his continued stewardship of this country.
But why does the DAP want Abdullah to continue being the PM? Being in the Opposition, the DAP must know that the Chinese community by and large disliked the Government headed by Datuk Seri Abdullah. They had openly spoken of their disenchantment and intention not to vote for Barisan Nasional in the 2008 elections.
The mishandling of the Hindraf by Datuk Seri Abdullah had also alienated the Indians. Certainly, the other Opposition parties knew that Malays, including Umno members, were strongly critical of Datuk Seri Abdullah.
Obviously, the DAP and other opposition parties stood to gain by the loss of faith in Datuk Seri Abdullah’s leadership by the erstwhile supporters of the BN.
And sure enough, they voted massively against the BN in the March 8 General Election. Those who could not bring themselves to vote for the Opposition deliberately spoiled their votes. This explains the unprecedented 300,000 plus spoilt votes in this election.
When Karpal urges me to refrain from criticising the present Prime Minister, it must be because he knew that this PM would continue to alienate BN supporters. At the next election, these people could be even more disgusted with the PM that they would actually cause the BN to lose even its majority in Parliament and would no longer form the Federal Government.
In other words, the “Pakatan” (The English equivalent to “pakatan” is “conspirators”) would actually win by default and form the Federal Government.
This explains why the DAP seems to be very friendly with Datuk Seri Abdullah and why Karpal wants me to stop criticising him. He and his colleagues are against any move to get Datuk Seri Abdullah to step down.
Tunku did criticise me and did try to unseat me by supporting Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Tun Hussein Onn was unhappy with me over my “Buy British Last” policy but was not well enough to go public, so to speak. So my outbursts are nothing unusual. One can almost say it is in accord with tradition.
As to my phobia of lawyers, this idea had been promoted by Opposition lawyers for political reasons. Karpal seems to imply that I really wanted to hang the lawyers. As everyone knows, Shakespeare hanged all the lawyers during his time. Karpal can go on believing that I was not joking. That is his right. But my conscience is clear and a lot of lawyers seem to have a different mind from Karpal.
So I would like to thank Karpal for helping to solve a political mystery that had bothered me over the last five years. However, as a citizen who loves this country, I will continue to speak up, more so because the Umno leaders and members fear criticising the leadership. They would be labelled saboteurs and would be punished.

DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD.