Pak Lah S Son Denies Time To Steal Exchange Prays For Dr M

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Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s son has denied telling Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s son that he intends to enrich himself using his father’s position.
“I categorically deny it. I never said such a thing, nor did I do such things,” Kamaluddin Abdullah stated in an Instagram post late last night.
He attributed the allegation to Mahathir, who had handpicked Abdullah to succeed him as prime minister in 2003, being vexed.
“Mahathir is obviously very upset and very angry with many things and many people,” he said.
Choosing not to engage in a mudslinging match with the former premier, who will turn 100 this year, Kamaluddin chose to take the high road.
“The best we can do is pray for his well-being and hope that in his twilight years, he finds peace with himself,” he added.
Abdullah Ahmad BadawiOn Friday, Malaysiakini reported that Mahathir, without mentioning names, claimed that he was stunned to learn from his son about an alleged conversation with Abdullah’s son.
“They (his successors) believed that during my time as prime minister, I was abusing power and was corrupt. The son of Abdullah told my son, ‘It was your turn before, now it is our turn’. Our turn for what? To steal money. I was shocked,” he said.
Mahathir lamented that instead of focusing on leading and building the country, “they viewed the power of the prime minister as a means to enrich themselves”.
“At that stage, I regretted resigning as prime minister (in 2003),” he added.
‘That’s Mahathir’
Abdullah, who was forced to relinquish his post after BN’s dismal performance in the 2008 general election, had come under relentless attack from Mahathir during his one term in office.
In his 2013 book “Awakening: The Abdullah Badawi Years In Malaysia”, Abdullah, fondly known as Pak Lah, hit back at Mahathir.
“I didn’t like what Mahathir did. I gave Mahathir the opportunity to give me his views. I went to see him, but he chose to be public in his attacks against me and my administration.
“Mahathir cannot deny that he contributed to the erosion of BN’s support in the 2008 general election through his open and unwarranted criticism and attacks.
“Calling my administration, which included a majority of people from his cabinet, as a ‘half-past-six government’ and accusing us of corruption and all kinds of things,” he said.
Abdullah claimed that Mahathir could not accept any vision of the country beyond what he had mapped out before his retirement.
“Mahathir is set in his ways. And he believes that his way is the only way. When I tried to do things differently, he believed I was doing things wrongly. But that is Mahathir,” he said.
The blame game
In 2008, Mahathir had pushed for Najib Abdul Razak, who was then deputy prime minister, to take over the leadership reins from Abdullah.
However, the nonagenarian formed an alliance with the then-opposition Pakatan Harapan to topple Najib in the 2018 general election. He became prime minister again for 22 months at the age of 92.
In 2023, Mahathir blamed Abdullah and Najib for the failure of his 2020 vision after DAP’s Lim Kit Siang pointed out that all the nine strategic challenges spelt out by the former premier when launching the blueprint in 1991 were abject failures.
Conceding that Vision 2020 had failed, he said: “However, it is not my failure. There is nothing to show that vision was headed for failure until I stepped down in 2003.
“This vision was set aside as soon as Abdullah and Najib took over... they set aside all the policies and direction which I had charted for Malaysia,” he added.
Mahathir, who suffered a devastating defeat in the last general election, has now joined hands with the current opposition Perikatan Nasional and is the “unofficial adviser” to an official grouping of the four PN-controlled state governments dubbed “SG 4” or “state government 4”. - Mkini

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