KUALA LUMPUR – Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng has recounted his difficulties dealing with then-prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who opposed Lim’s appeals not to ban Umno as a political party.
This was in 2018, after Pakatan Harapan (PH) won national elections, toppling Umno-Barisan Nasional (BN) to form the federal government.
Although Umno was Dr Mahathir’s former party, he was dead set against it as he quit and allied with PH to oust then-BN leader and prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
“Mahathir was also surprised by my opposition to his wish to ban Umno as a political party,” the Bagan MP said in a Facebook post.
“Much as we were opposed to Umno then, this (ban) goes against the grain of fundamental human rights of freedom of association.
“Umno did not ban DAP or PKR when we were in the opposition and we would be worse than Umno should we attempt to do so.
“I disclosed this to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and we managed to prevail upon Mahathir to abandon his idea,” Lim said.
Lim and the Chinese-majority DAP have long been demonised by Umno until their alliance with the current unity government under Anwar, who is prime minister.
Lim, who is now DAP chairman and was formerly the party’s secretary-general, was commenting on a record of Dr Mahathir’s views in a newly released book, Shattered Hopes, by correspondent and Najib’s former aide, Romen Bose, on post-2018 politics.
Lim said Dr Mahathir’s views were “riddled with half-truths and falsehoods”, adding that the nonagenarian leader was “an expert in selective memory to paint a favourable picture of himself”.
“While we can charitably attribute such lapses to senility due to his advanced age, his unbridled political ambitions and motivation for vengeance politics compel me to put the record straight.”
Lim said Dr Mahathir had openly threatened to boot him out of the cabinet thrice because of Lim’s insistence on reducing highway toll rates and implementing open tenders.
Lim said he was not the only politician in the PH government who had their jobs threatened, adding that Dr Mahathir also tried to sack Tony Pua who was Lim’s political secretary as finance minister at the time.
He also said the PH administration faced various daily, internal battles, with Dr Mahathir using his “bully boys led by then-PKR deputy president” Datuk Seri Azlim Ali, who was also then-economic affairs minister.
“No wonder PH’s popularity plunged while he (Dr Mahathir) was intent on fighting his allies as ferociously as his opponents,” Lim said. – June 25, 2024