[ Laman Ehwal Semasa ReformIS ]
Date: 24 Aug 1999
Time: 01:56:19
Remote User: -
Mahathir: Why I shamed Anwar
Premier tells Newsweek how he had only two choices: either shame Anwar or let the country be humiliated for being led by a homosexual
By BRENDAN PEREIRA IN KUALA LUMPUR
HUMILIATE a friend or allow the whole country to be humiliated.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that left with only those two choices, he decided to make public the abuse of power and alleged sexual misconduct of his former deputy, Anwar Ibrahim.
He conceded that Islam discouraged public shaming of a person, but he defended his action.
"If this country is led by a man who, later on, we discover is a homosexual and all that, it would bring shame to the whole country," the 74-year-old leader said in an interview with Newsweek.
He dismissed talk of a conspiracy to end the political career of his heir apparent, saying that the baton of power was about to be handed over then.
Instead, it was Anwar who had a hidden agenda. He built a cult of personality while in government, the Prime Minister charged.
He said he learnt of his former protege's grand design after the latter's sacking in September, and continued to discover secrets about him.
"I am learning quite a few things. That while he was close to me, and making use of my support to gain popularity, he was building up personal loyalties.
"Now, I am discovering government officers, business people, party members. He cultivated them by giving them some privileges, some perks and all that."
Dr Mahathir said that he did not suspect that anything was amiss until the economy went into a tailspin during the regional currency crisis.
Before this, he conceded that he was not interested in finding out what his heir apparent was up to.
"I thought that by 1998, I would stop, step down. I didn't see any point in going on. But of course, the economy went bad, then I discovered these things," he added.Mahathir's struggle for power.
He was especially scathing on the attempts to mount street demonstrations in the capital.
For a few weeks following Anwar's arrest under the Official Secrets Act, several thousand supporters and sympathisers gathered in the heart of the city to call for his release and the resignation of Dr Mahathir.
Anwar had to resort to getting students and thugs involved in protests, Dr Mahathir said.
"They were carrying beer bottles. Obviously they had been drinking. These are the kind of people who protest. You pay them a few cents, they are quite happy to demonstrate."
Some of those people confessed that they had been paid, he added.
During the interview, he spoke candidly about the International Monetary Fund and how its intervention to shore up the economy of a country often led to political implications.
This experience was seen in neighbouring countries in the region, he noted.
He was then asked whether Malaysia was following the IMF recipe in putting the economy on the path to recovery.
"What the IMF asked us to do, to squeeze credit, that we don't do. My deputy followed the IMF. He increased interest rates, and we went almost bankrupt.
"On top of that, he cut back on government expenditure by 21 per cent," he said.
Instead, Malaysia had to shape its own policies, he said, adding that currency controls were the government's response to an uncertain situation. Today, he said, businessmen are grateful.
"They tell me, 'you saved my life'. We can keep these controls on indefinitely."