Speech by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, at the DAP Ceramah at Padang Serai, Kedah on Wednesday, 5th September 1990 at 8 p.m.
Dr. Mahathir is so worried and obsessed about the next general elections that he is even attacking my grandchild yet unborn
Dr. Mahathir Mohamed is the most worried Prime Minister in Malaysian history about the next general elections. He knows that for the first time in Malaysian history, the voters have the power in their hands to bring about great political changes in the general elections, whether it is to deny him two-thirds majority in Parliament or even to change the government and replace him with Tengku Raszaleigh Hamzah as the new Prime Minister.
This is why he is dragging his ‘three stooges’, MCA President, Datuk Dr. Ling Liong Sik, Gerakan President, Datuk Dr. Lim Keng Yaik and MIC President, Datuk Samy Vellu, with him on his visits all over the country, appearing on the television networks every night hurling abuses against the Opposition and uttering threats about the next general elections.
If Dr. Mahathir is very confident about the next general elections, he would not have embarked on such a frenetic programme of state-by-state visits series after series. Dr. Mahathir did not have to do this before the 1982 and 1986 general elections, because he had no doubt about retaining power or two-thirds parliamentary majority during those two general elections.
Outwardly, Dr. Mahathir exudes confidence and calm, but his worry and anxiety about the next general elections could clearly be seen by his speeches and actions.
A nervous and worried person will often make wild and unthinkable statements. A good example of this is Dr. Mahathir’s speech when he visited Malacca on Monday.
Dr. Mahathir’s worry and obsession about the next general elections was so intense that he launched a wild attack on me, to the extent that he even attacked my grandchild yet unborn.
In Malacca on Monday, Dr. Mahathir accused me of building a ‘Lim dynasty’ even before I became Prime Minister, that when I was not around, my son takes over, and when my son is not around, my grandchild takes over. (NYSP 5/9). Dr. Mahathir must have made history as a Prime Minister who have to attack someone who is not even born!
I feel sorry for a Prime Minister who have become so worried and obsessed about the next general elections that he could launch an attack on my grandchild yet unborn!
Dr. Mahathir seems to be conducting a personal vendetta against me. In 1987, he not only detained me under the Internal Security Act under Operation Lalang, he also detained Lim Guan Eng. In 1988 and 1989, when all the other Operation Lalang detainees were released in batches, he not only refused to release me until the very end, he also refused to release Guan Eng until the very end! And now, Dr. Mahathir has started to attack my grandchild yet unborn!
DAP to expose the campaign and culture of lies of the Barisan Nasional
However, I would not write to the Prime Minister to protest against his Malacca speech, which is in such bad taste, as it reflected on him rather than on me.
Dr. Mahathir’s worry and obsession about the next general elections could also be found from the more and more lies that Dr. Mahathir and the other Barisan Nasional leaders are telling every day in their attacks on the DAP and other Opposition parties.
Dr. Mahathir and the other Barisan Nasional leaders have reduced their general elections campaign to a simple campaign of lies, lies and more lies!
The Barisan Nasional has become so enveloped by this ‘culture of lies’ that more and more leaders have joined Dr. Mahathir, Ghafa Baba, Anwar Ibrahim, Ling Liong Sik, Lim Keng Yaik and Samy Vellu to tell lies. The latest recruits to this Barisan Nasional campaign of lies are the Penang Chief Minister, Dr. Lim Chong Eu, and one of his designated successors, Dr. Goh Cheng Teik in his column in Nanyang Siang Pao today.
The DAP will be exposing all these lies of the Barisan Nasional leaders, and explain why there is now a culture of lies in the Barisan Nasional.