THE THIRD FORCE
محضير دده باڬايمانا ڤنصيحة ڬوان اڠ دري دڤ ‘چمڤوري’ اوروسن كراجأن دان بوات اوڬوتن
A shocking yet ‘familiar’ revelation by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has stirred the hornet’s nest, with Tony Pua now on the defensive, claiming to be the man referred to by Mahathir in the latter’s memoir, “Capturing Hope: The Struggle Continues for a New Malaysia.”
According to Malaysianow, Mahathir singled out an unnamed senior DAP individual, said to be the trusted adviser of former finance minister Lim Guan Eng, over the latter’s unauthorised involvement in government business.
According to Mahathir, the individual’s involvement only served to provide bullets for UMNO to exploit racial issues against the Chinese-dominated party.
Pua’s habit of sticking his oars in government business when he was not authorised to do so was widely rumoured amongst pro-UMNO groups not too long after the 14-th general election.
Rumours ranged from Pua being the brains behind Guan Eng to Mahathir’s complete disgust with Pua, and how Pua appeared to think that being Guan Eng’s advisor earned him the right to discuss government matters directly with Mahathir.
The portal wrote:
Writing in his soon-to-be-launched memoir that promises to be a “tell all” about events covering his 15-year retirement before his return to the top office in 2018, Mahathir said the DAP man was “delegated a lot” by Lim, but had come to think that he could wield power over civil servants.
He said the individual also took part in business negotiations involving the government despite not being empowered to do so, and had resorted to threats.
“It’s not the way a government works, and I put a stop to all instances of it that I was aware of, but it was this kind of behaviour that allowed the Umno cybertroopers to play up ethnic insecurities,” Mahathir wrote in the 304-page “Capturing Hope: The Struggle Continues for a New Malaysia”, his second memoir after his biographical “A Doctor in the House”.
Relating one incident involving the adviser, Mahathir said he threatened a property developer who had faced financial problems in a joint venture project with the government to develop a multi-billion ringgit complex in Kuala Lumpur.
In the agreement which was made during Najib Razak’s administration, the government agreed to provide a loan to the developer with certain conditions, which included the entire project being handed over to the government if it fell behind schedule.
“Now, this particular DAP adviser did in fact make this threat despite the fact that billions had already been spent, and he did so without reference to or indeed getting any authorisation from the government.
“There were also occasions when this adviser spoke publicly on behalf of the government despite having no standing to do so,” Mahathir wrote.
Mahathir said this was one of many problems he had dealt with during the 22 months that he helmed the PH government.
He said any proposal by a minister would have to be agreed on collectively in the Cabinet and not by him alone.
“For the most part, Guan Eng always referred to me and sought my approval on almost all his initiatives. In fact, even in Cabinet meetings, every time he proposed something, he would end it by saying ‘if the prime minister agrees’,” wrote Mahathir, who resigned in February 2020 after the PH coalition collapsed following disagreements between component party leaders on the back of pressure from PKR supporters to replace Mahathir with their party chief Anwar Ibrahim.
Pua has since affirmed that he is the man referred to in Mahathir’s memoir, but was quick to add that the latter was siding with a “crooked businessman” who had made a false claim against him.
According to Pua, the project in question was Exchange106, a skyscraper which forms part of the Tun Razak Exchange in Kuala Lumpur, developed by Mulia Property Development Sdn Bhd, a company linked to controversial Indonesian tycoon Djoko Tjandra.
But he said he was never involved in any negotiations with the company, adding that Lim had asked him to “monitor the progress and resolution” of issues surrounding the project.
“The problem is, I could never have ‘threatened’ the property developer because I had never personally met or spoken to the developer!” said Pua, adding that negotiations with the company were carried out by then deputy treasurer-general Asri Hamidon and the finance ministry-owned TRX City Sdn Bhd, the master developer of Tun Razak Exchange.
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MALAYSIAN POLITICS – THE UGLY AND BITTER TRUTH EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW (PART 1)
