Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has reportedly blamed corruption for accelerating the downfall of the short-lived Pakatan Harapan government (PH) last year, after several MPs decided to defect and join forces with Umno and PAS then.
In an interview with Free Malaysia Today, the Parti Pejuang Tanah Air chairman said the opposition then was “led by people who were under suspicion and who have been tried in court for a lot of crimes”, and the same politicians are now backing the Perikatan Nasional government.
“So, the government [now] is backed up by people who have criminal records. And they seem to have powerful influence. So, the corruption in Malaysia has reached a very high level that endangers the government of this country,” he was quoted saying.
However, he also pointed out that the previous Barisan Nasional administration had also fallen due to corruption, pointing at how money politics had allegedly proliferated.
This, he said continued with the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal which he said had showed that an “entire government” can be subverted with wealth, and he claimed this practice has been picked up by the current administration to garner support.
“At that stage, I had already warned them, but it is very difficult because the people were all wanting to become ministers and all that they were prepared to even borrow money to bribe people,” he reportedly added.
Claiming that both sides of the political divide are “bribing” voters, he then claimed that democracy has “enabled” corruption as winning support is contingent on who commands the most popularity.
“Now, people vote according to what they are paid. It’s no longer a question of choosing the best candidate but choosing the candidate who will give you [the most] money,” he reportedly said.
He also said the current crop of government ministers are not “doing work” and have little understanding of what the people and the country need.
He added that the Perikatan Nasional-led administration is “not functioning”.
“(The current leaders) are not very impressive, I must say,” he said. “The ministers seem to be doing no work at all. We don’t see them doing anything, and we know that ministers are refusing to see people.”
“Even the prime minister is a difficult man to see. When I was prime minister, I saw at least three to four delegations a day. I talked to them, I knew what they were thinking about, and I listened to what was being discussed in public so I could make adjustments.
“But here, they may have some advisors but apparently they are not giving the right advice.”
He said that while some inactivity can be chalked up to the Covid-19 movement restrictions, “the level of service offered by the government today is below par”.
In addition, he believes this lack of productivity runs counter to the government’s efforts to revive an economy ravaged by the pandemic.