Written by Mariam Mokhtar,
Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad cast doubt on the ability of the new governments of Tunisia and Egypt to solve the nation’s troubles. He didn’t believe that its new leaders would do better and blamed government incompetence for the underdevelopment of Muslim countries.
He said, “Should these revolutions succeed there would be new governments. But it is worthwhile to remember that change is not always for the better”.
With a hint of irony, he remarked “This is because most leaders upon achieving power would change and would forget the struggles and sacrifices which enabled them to be in power. Power corrupts as we all know”.
Mahathir’s remarks came as the new Tunisian unity government experienced a shaky start and violence marred the uprising in Egypt.
He said that democracy was no guarantee as elections could be fixed or a series of ineffective governments would be voted in and rejected in turn: “This will cause instability. The country would be no better.”
He warned against the electorate being manipulated after a revolution, as “this would be something new to them and they may not be skilled enough in exercising their power to choose.”
Then he called on the new leaders not to forget “the people who so courageously rose against the previous governments” and advised them to manage the economy well, create jobs and reduce corruption lest they suffered the same fate of the previous government.
He expressed sadness that there was no developed Muslim country and feared that this was what caused the Muslim world to suffer oppression and discrimination.
He said, “The reason for the oppression of Muslim countries and discrimination against Muslims that we see today is because they are underdeveloped and weak. They are labelled terrorists. They have no capacity to protect themselves.
“When powerful countries give aid, it is not free. They have to toe the line determined by the donors.”
He denied that Muslim countries rejected development because it was not important in Islam or that it went against the teachings.
He said, “Does Islam teach us to be weak and poor, to be beggars incapable of defending ourselves? Certainly not. Indeed, what we will be doing is to restore the good image of Islam and counter the propaganda that Islam is the cause of the poverty and incompetence of Muslims.”
Mahathir, who ruled Malaysia for 22 years, seemed to reflect nervousness among the other long-serving BN politicians, of which we have several, that the Egyptian uprising would embolden anti-government protests.
Echoing Mahathir’s sentiments was Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak who tried to assure Malaysians, that the government put the needs of the people first.
Mahathir and Najib, are Umno politicians in the ruling coalition BN which has ruled Malaysian since independence in 1957.
The uprising in Tunisia and Egypt started after decades of repression and similar riots have been reported in Libya, Algeria and Yemen, inspired perhaps by the Jasmine revolution in Tunisia.
People in the Arab/Muslim world will be emboldened by events in Tunisia and may be more assertive about their grievances. They may also see how far they can push their governments.
Goverments too are anxiously watching for ways and means to pre-empt such troubles, like Jordan’s King Abdullah who has sacked his government and asked for a new one to be sworn in to introduce reforms. The other reality is that governments will either crush the protesters or the protests will quickly fizzle out.
Egyptian opposition leader and former chief UN weapons inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei said: “Violence in Tunisia now is a product of decades of repression.”
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