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The one institution which used to literally bend to his will was the judiciary. Today, it is coming back to haunt him. LESLIE LAU, THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
JUNE 12 — For all his efforts in trying to remove his successor from office, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is likely to discover his victory, if it happens, will be hollow. Dr Mahathir has always been known to be a man who comes out swinging. But nowadays whenever he takes a swing, he finds that he is probably doing more bad than good to his legacy. His legacy would probably have been preserved somewhat intact if he had resisted the temptation to continue telling Malaysians how they should behave, and how they should run the country. The one institution which used to literally bend to his will was the judiciary. Today, it is coming back to haunt him. Senior High Court judge Datuk Ian Chin's explosive revelations in court that Dr Mahathir allegedly interfered directly with the judiciary are but the latest in a laundry-list of disclosures which has tarnished the latter's reputation. Every sen being paid out as ex-gratia to the judges sacked during the 1988 judiciary crisis, and every time V.K. Lingam's infamous and over-repeated line of "correct, correct, correct" is used, is a slap in the face for Mahathir. But still, Malaysia's most famous doctor is unrelenting in his attacks against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Writing in his chedet.com blog, he lobs attack after attack against the PM and his family. He stops short of calling the PM a sell-out to Singapore, and he makes allegation after allegation of graft and abuse against Abdullah. Judging by the huge numbers who visit chedet.com every day, he has commanded a legion of supporters or at least the curiosity of ordinary Malaysians who are just not happy with the Abdullah administration. And he is, unwittingly perhaps, driving them into the arms of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, a man he probably despises more than the current PM. Anwar and his colleagues in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition have, without a doubt, benefited from Dr Mahathir's success in weakening Pak Lah. The perception that Pak Lah is weak, the picture of a so-called "4th Floor," of young advisers who allegedly run roughshod over the government, the accusations of nepotism, have all come from Dr Mahathir. In fact, during the election campaign, before his latest move in resigning from Umno, he called on Malaysians to vote in a strong opposition. And so, Anwar, who had been all but written off as a political force just a few months before the election, stands ready to take power. But it is not just Anwar who is on the ascent. The influence of the royalty in politics has also grown. It cannot be denied that it was Dr Mahathir who curbed the powers of royalty when he successfully amended the Constitution more than 20 years ago to ensure the monarchy would not interfere in government administration. But the royal households have now emerged front and centre again, and played significant roles in the choice of menteris besar in a few states recently. Still, Dr Mahathir continues his campaign against Pak Lah. He may yet see the end of the Abdullah administration, but he may still not be happy with the Malaysia he lives in after that.
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