FORMER prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad calling his successor Muhyiddin Yassin a dictator recently has got to be the biggest irony of 2021. I can only say that it takes one to know another.

And in an uncanny twist to the timing of Dr Mahathir’s claims, former lord president Salleh Abbas’ death this morning is yet another reminder of the fourth PM’s chequered past in issues relating to human rights, specifically judiciary independence. Fresh from Umno being declared illegal following his 1987 tussle with Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in Umno, Salleh, who was then lord president, was unceremoniously sacked.

Human rights groups, including the Malaysian Bar, had lamented about the subjugation of the judiciary – one of the three branches of government following Salleh’s removal. In one fell swoop, they felt that the judiciary had become submissive, at least as far as public perception was concerned.

And Dr Mahathir is now lecturing the world about Muhyiddin purportedly being a dictator? The irony cannot be more stark.

Has Dr Mahathir also forgotten how he used the Internal Security Act then to cement his hold on power? Under Ops Lalang, over a hundred leaders and activists were detained without trial. The right to a fair trial is a fundamental human right.  But don’t talk about a fair trial  when there’s no trial to begin with for those detained. Isn’t that a hallmark of a dictator?

And wasn’t the government apparatus used to the hilt during his first tenure as PM? Weren’t there widespread concerns over how the then Anti-Corruption Agency and police force were perceived to be used for political means? Who could forget how balaclava-clad special operations force personnel stormed into the house of sacked DPM Anwar Ibrahim on September 20, 1998 to arrest him? If that could happen to a former DPM, what kind of safeguards do lesser mortals have?

Lest one assumes that Dr Mahathir’s dictatorial streak ended when he left office in 2003, one should be reminded that a leopard does not change its spots easily. Who could forget during his second tenure as PM, he had wanted to form a unity government at the tail-end of his office in early 2020?

True to his proclivity to thrive during crises, the Machiavellian two-time PM proposed a “unity government” as Pakatan Harapan (PH) was showing signs of breaking up. If the proposal had materialised, he would be back as a dictator, politically free from Parliament oversight with Barisan Nasional and PH backing him. That is dictatorship, in all but name, doc.

Perhaps Dr Mahathir does not realise that the emergency imposed now differs from the ones declared in the past. The emergency we have now is to control the outbreak of Covid-19. No draconian laws will be introduced, unlike those which Dr Mahathir is familiar with.

The courts are still running, the rule of law is still in place. In fact, Muhyiddin has set up a bipartisan committee to handle the implementation of the emergency. In other words, the PM has reached out to his political foes, not lock them up, like Dr Mahathir used to.

I guess the only reason why Dr Mahathir sees Muhyiddin as a dictator is because that is the only lens the former sees the world with – as a dictator. – January 16, 2021.

* Muhammad Ashraf Sulaiman reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.