'Mahathir hypocritical in saying no fear over PN's green-wave of voter support'
Published on: Tuesday, May 02, 2023
By:
FMT, Tsubasa Nair
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad recently said people should not fear the green wave of support for Perikatan Nasional.
PETALING JAYA: Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been accused of hypocrisy in claiming that there was no need to fear the “green wave” of voter support for Perikatan Nasional.
Political analyst Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said Mahathir had long targeted PAS, one of the two main parties in PN, particularly during the 22 years of his first prime ministership.
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“Based on his past criticisms of PN, it’s hypocritical for Mahathir to tell the public now not to fear the green wave,” Awang Azman told FMT
Awang Azman said Mahathir’s other criticisms included his labelling of PAS as “kafir” in September last year for working with Umno and non-Muslim parties.
Mahathir had also been at odds with PAS’ attempt to implement hudud (Islamic criminal penalties) in Kelantan.
In November last year, he had claimed that Islam would be abused if PAS were to form the federal government, adding that there would be “a lot of problems” owing to extremists in the party.
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Awang Azman said Mahathir was now hoping to ride on the coattails of PAS after the party appeared to capture the Malay vote by securing 49 seats in the 2022 general election.
“Mahathir is using PAS to fight Pakatan Harapan and Umno,” Awang Azman said.
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Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said Mahathir may have misunderstood the term “green wave”, which is primarily religious in nature.
“While it has elements of Malay nationalism, I think its religious appeal far outweighs (the) racial aspect,” Oh said.
Oh said it could be that Mahathir’s “unwavering enmity” toward Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had now grown to the point that he is considering joining forces with PN, to achieve his “ultimate political goal” of toppling Anwar.
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