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KUCHING: Former prime minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, has been criticized and described as hypocritical for his recent comments in favor of Sabah and Sarawak being treated as equal partners with West Malaysia.
Political analyst Jeniri Amir said Mahathir was a hypocrite for failing to correct the mistake in his two terms as prime minister.
“When he was prime minister for 22 months under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, he did nothing, but put pressure on Sarawak.
“Mahathir only spoke of ‘equal partnership’ and fighting for the rights of Sabah and Sarawak when he was no longer in power. He (Mahathir) is like a ‘tragic hero’, ”Jeniri said.
SUPP youth chief Michael Tiang agreed. He said: “Mahathir should have done something as he was there from the beginning when Malaysia was formed. He knew everything very well. Malaysia was formed when it was 38 years old. You know the original spirit of the Malaysian formation, but why didn’t you do anything when you were in power? “
Tiang said that Sabah and Sarawak together held less than a third of the seats in Dewan Rakyat, as opposed to 1963. Sarawak currently has 31 parliamentary seats and Sabah 25 in the 222-seat house.
With less than a third of parliamentary seats, West Malaysian politicians could simply amend the Federal Constitution and take away special rights from Sabah and Sarawak, he said.
“We cannot stop them. So are we considered equal partners? No way, “he added.
Tiang said that Mahathir was very powerful as the fourth prime minister and was even asked to return to become the seventh prime minister.
“Don’t tell me he is (Mahathir) powerless. He had the opportunity to correct the mistake when he was in power as prime minister. There are no excuses. I am not trying to discredit him, but in fact it is a shame, “he said.
Voon Lee Shan, chairman of the opposition party Parti Bumi Kenyalang, also questioned why Mahathir did nothing to restore the equitable partnership between the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak.
“When he came back under the (PH government), he could easily have done it with a stroke of the pen in Parliament to repeal the 1974 Petroleum Development Law, the Territorial Seas Law and the Continental Shelf Law without amending the Federal Constitution, but ¿ why? Did you sit on it? Voon said.
