AS Pakatan Harapan soldiers along with Dr Mahathir Mohamad at its helm, his once-political nemesis Lim Kit Siang said the future was too important to dwell on the past.

Asked about public scepticism over Dr Mahathir’s controversial 22-year tenure as prime minister, Lim, who is DAP’s parliamentary opposition leader, said Malaysia was now at a point where its future was too crucial for the people to keep looking back at the past.

“Dr Mahathir was not born yesterday. He was prime minister for 22 years and before that, he had a chequered history. He is a controversial personality but a strong leader.

“Whatever reservations and questions we may have of the past, I think the more important question now is the future,” he told a press conference at the Penang DAP headquarters today. 

He also cited last night’s crowd of some 5,000, who turned up to see Dr Mahathir at Bersatu’s inaugural Hari Raya open house in Penang.

He said the grand reception for the Bersatu chairman was an indication that he had public support.

Lim was detained during Op Lalang in 1987 under Dr Mahathir’s government in a sweep that saw a media clampdown and the detention of more than 100 opposition politicians, activists and intellectuals. 

Dr Mahathir’s tenure, noted for strong industrial growth and the modernisation of Malaysia, was also marked by bailouts of mega-projects, accusations of cronyism, scandals and suppression of civil freedoms.

Lim said he believed the people – both in urban and rural areas across Malaysia – realised that it was time for an “awakening” in the country.

“We must not forget or ignore the past, but what we can do for the present and the future it is very important now. This is the time for an awakening to reclaim our country.”

Lim said even the late DAP stalwart, Karpal Singh, would agree to working with Dr Mahathir.

“I believe if he is still with us today, he will be also be among the first (to agree to cooperate with Dr Mahathir) for the sake of the nation’s future.”

Of late, old videos of the late DAP national chairman, who died in a car accident in 2014, saying that the opposition would put Dr Mahathir in jail if they took Putrajaya had surfaced.

Karpal reportedly said Dr Mahathir would have to answer to allegations of power abuse during his administration. The remark was made at the last general election campaign.

Since then, much has changed in the opposition coalition and Barisan Nasional, following the expose of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal that saw Dr Mahathir retracting his support for Prime Minister Najib Razak and his exit from Umno to form Bersatu.

Dr Mahathir’s party is now a significant member of PH together with DAP, PKR and Amanah, with him leading as chairman alongside PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail in the charge to remove his former party from power.

On Najib, Lim said that the prime minister “must be in panic mode” because his administration now had 1MDB, the US Department of Justice suits, and the Scorpene corruption scandal to worry about.

Lim asked whether these issues would be addressed in the Dewan Rakyat sitting, starting on Monday.

Lim also drew attention to Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s statement that all 191 Umno division leaders had declared their full support for Najib as party chief and prime minister in a closed-door meeting earlier this week and Najib’s claim that most of the 1.6 million civil servants backed BN.

“What is the basis of his confidence? He has to face his demons and admit that he, Umno and BN are not invincible in the next polls, as he has feet of clay and faces three challenges.” – July 21, 2017.