Mahathir issue: Umno calls PAS a hypocrite
Malaysiakini
Sep 22, 2006

Umno has accused opposition party PAS of hypocrisy due to its remarks concerning former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“Some quarters have tried to exploit Mahathir's failure to be elected as a Kubang Pasu delegate by all sorts of negative allegations,” said Umno information chief Muhammad Muhammad Taib.

According to Bernama, he was responding to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s statement on Wednesday that Umno had shamed Mahathir, who led the party and country for 22 years.

Hadi had also warned Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s administration not to let anger cloud its judgement.

He said the current leadership should not cancel projects mooted by Mahathir simply because they were angry with him.

Projects that benefit the people should be continued, Hadi said, citing the controversial crooked-bridge as one such project.

However, Muhammad said the PAS allegation was hypocritical because the party had in the past ridiculed all the development efforts undertaken by Mahathir when he was in office.

The Islamic-based opposition party had even previously equated voting for Mahathir and Barisan Nasional to purchasing a ticket to hell.

The former premier had also ridiculed and attacked PAS leaders on numerous occasions.

Important role

Meanwhile, Muhammad also denied that the Umno leadership had taken any actions to shame its former president.

Abdullah, who is the current president, had never been involved in any action which paved the way for Mahathir to be put to shame, he added.

Muhammad said Umno believed that Mahathir had a more important role to play in view of his vast experience and should not be just a delegate to the general assembly.

Mahathir failed in his bid to be elected as a delegate in the Kubang Pasu contest after he came out ninth among the 15 candidates.

The division would only send seven representatives with the highest votes to the general assembly in Kuala Lumpur this November.

Mahathir claimed that money politics and the influence of top leaders had caused his defeat in the division which he had lead for three decades. However, the Umno leadership has denied this.

Other Umno leaders such as Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Aziz Shamsuddin have also expressed surprise and disappointment over the outcome of the polls.