Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is being provocative because he has nothing better to do in his old age, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.
Zahid said the 97-year-old’s antics aren’t anything to be surprised about and he does not want to react too much to what Dr Mahathir says as he has used a similar template in the past to get attention.
“I think I will leave it to the prime minister to reply but I think you know, knowing him, he will like to be provocative and I don’t intend to answer to his provocation,” Zahid told reporters at his ministry today.
When pressed if he felt Dr Mahathir was purposely stoking racial sentiments as the state elections approach, he said: “That’s been his thinking, you know, he uses this template to provoke others for him to continuously (be) alert, because at his age I think he needs that to carry on with life.
Yesterday, Dr Mahathir accused the administration of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of attempting to turn Malaysia secular and multi-ethnic.
He claimed in a brief Facebook post that promoting multiracialism is against the Federal Constitution, which he alleged instead endorses the “Malayness” of the country.
He claimed Anwar was being controlled by DAP MPs and that the Constitution does not explicitly state that Malaysia is a multi-ethnic country. Article 8 guarantees equality among citizens and that no one should be discriminated against based on their ethnicity.