Is Tun Mahathir lying or simply senile as the Sultan of Johor suggests?

Published below in full is a statement released by the Press Secretary to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Tengku Sariffuddin.

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1. Once there was an Asian tiger called Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Everyone feared him because, as he now admits, he was a dictator during his 22 years of power.

2. To keep power, Mahathir toppled his political opponents. He put his deputy prime minister – Anwar Ibrahim – in prison because he said the country could not have a prime minister who was homosexual. And he decided that Lim Kit Siang was so dangerous to the Malays that he had him jailed too.

3. But the tiger is now old. Now he likes Kit Siang so much that he would allow this de facto leader of the opposition to be DPM. And all so that his son Mukhriz can be PM. Now Mahathir allies himself with Anwar and shakes his hand, so it seems he thinks it's ok for a convicted homosexual sodomist to be a Malaysian leader.

4. These U-turns by Mahathir are very strange. Once he said that Kit Siang is dangerous to the Malays, but apparently now he is not dangerous. Once he said sodomy is a crime, but apparently now it is acceptable. Is the tiger getting confused in his old age?

5. Even His Royal Highness the Sultan of Johor is asking this about Mahathir now. As His Highness recently commented: “In the past, he said the opposition was the sworn enemy, but today he can sit at the same table with them and become close friends. In the past, he said western media liked to fabricate stories, but now he says western media reports are based on facts. In the past, he criticised Malays for being a race that forgets easily but today he shows that he himself is forgetful. If he is not forgetful, maybe he is a little senile.”

6. His Royal Highness' observations are demonstrated in Mahathir's last blog post. In it he runs down his own country for personal political gain, saying that Malaysia is one of the ten most corrupt countries in the world. In fact, in Transparency International's latest list, Malaysia is the 55th LEAST corrupt country in the world.

7. So Mahathir is either lying, or he can no longer understand what is fact and what is fabricated. Otherwise why would he say Malaysia is in the top ten most corrupt countries when it is in the top third least corrupt countries?

8. The reality is that Malaysians cannot believe anything U-turn Mahathir says anymore. His words have become embarrassing for all to hear. He is either lying for political expediency, or as His Royal Highness the Sultan of Johor says, simply senile. The old tiger would serve himself and his nation better by retiring quietly.

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DATUK SERI TENGKU SARIFFUDDIN

PRESS SECRETARY TO THE PRIME MINISTER