Dr M to speak at DAP's 1MDB events at twin polls

The last time Dr Mahathir Mohamad hit the campaign trail was during the 2013 general election, where he, among others, went to Gelang Patah in Johor to urge voters to place DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang’s political career six feet under.

Much has changed since then.

Now, the former premier is set to make his first appearance in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections at DAP-organised events over the weekend.

Mahathir is slated to deliver the keynote address at a special colloquium on 1MDB and the multi-billion ringgit deposits in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's bank accounts.

Announcing this, DAP publicity secretary Tony Pua said the two-day event is titled: "Special Colloquium: 1MDB & Najib's Donation: The Straw that Breaks the Camel's Back?"

"In conjunction with the twin by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar, DAP is organising a special two-day colloquium to discuss the impact and implications of the RM55 billion 1MDB and Najib’s mysterious US$1 billion ‘donation’ scandals.

"Mahathir has kindly agreed to deliver the keynote opening address of the colloquium in both Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar,” he added in a media statement.

Lim would be closing both sessions.

Mahathir had said he is prepared to speak during the by-elections on the Citizens' Declaration platform if any party was willing to organise such an event.

To date, he has yet to make an appearance.

Pua said the event would be held at Dewan Restoran Hao Xiang Chi in Sungai Besar and Dewan Restoran Chun Ji in Kuala Kangsar concurrently beginning at 9.30am until 2pm on June 11 and 12.

He said the events would discuss whether the scandals were merely a storm in the teacup as claimed by Najib's supporters or would ultimately be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

"The by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar will also measure the people's endorsement of Najib's involvement in the 1MDB’s global financial scandal which has already brought down a 143-year-old Swiss BSI Bank," he said.

He said the speakers for Sungai Besar include Cynthia Gabriel, Abdul Aziz Bari, Dzulkefly Ahmad, P Gunasegaram, Zaid Ibrahim, Clare Rewcastle Brown (via skype) and Pua himself while the panellists in Kuala Kangsar include Ambiga Sreenevasan, Husam Musa, A Kadir Jasin, Maria Chin Abdullah, Nga Kor Ming and Khalid Samad.

The event would be conducted in both Malay and English.

Najib has denied abusing public funds for personal gain, and blamed such allegations on Mahathir and those in cahoots with the former premier to engineer his downfall.

Rosmah used private jet to receive award in Istanbul, claims Rafizi

In his latest exposé, PKR secretary-general Rafizi Ramli claimed that Rosmah Mansor had used a private jet to attend an event in Istanbul.

On May 27, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s wife received the 3G Children Welfare Award on behalf of Permata and this was reported by the mainstream media.

However, Rafizi said how she went there was not mentioned in these reports.

“I can confirm that she had used a private jet - an Airbus A-319 – owned by Emirates Airline (Emirates),” he alleged during a press conference in Kuala Kangsar this afternoon.

Rafizi had used phone application 'Plane Finder' to trace the jet's flight path.

Furnishing screen captures of the flight paths, he said the jet had departed to Subang from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on May 23 before returning to the UAE from Subang two days later.

The jet then departed for Istanbul from the UAE on May 25.

Although the dates were stated otherwise, Rafizi reminded that the dates were in accordance to where the jet was at the time as opposed to local Malaysian time.

According to Emirates Airlines' website, its versions of the twin-engined aircraft can carry up to 19 passengers, and sleeps up to 15.

It features 10 private suites with a 32" TV in each room, as well as a lounge area.
The jet, Rafizi claimed, was chartered and leased especially for the particular trip.

Since Rosmah received the award on behalf of Permata which is a public-funded project, he said it was therefore only fair to ask who paid for the flight.

“She has to answer this since she was the one who took the flight and Najib too has to answer because he has to be responsible for this,” he added.

The PKR vice-president also questioned why Rosmah did not use a commercial flight for her trip to Istanbul.

“Even if she took a first-class flight, I’m sure it would be much cheaper than renting a whole private jet,” he pointed out.

Apart from who was responsible for paying for the flight, Rafizi also wanted to know the identity of the person who made the reservations.

“Also, why was Rosmah, a member of the public, given the leeway to use the Subang airport which is a military base - it's not like she’s going to war,” he said.

Rafizi, meanwhile, confirmed that he would make daily exposé on the matter until Friday.

“The prime minister, Rosmah, BN’s candidate Mastura (Mohd Yazid) and PAS candidate (Dr Najihatussalehah Ahmad) can keep quiet on the matter, but the more you try to avoid this issue, the more voters can see your (lack of) honesty in defending their rights,” he said.

The vocal parliamentarian also expressed hope for PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s feedback on the matter.

“I want an open public rebuke from Hadi against our prime minister for failing to guide his own wife.

“This will also be the acid test - which party will be brave to stand up to defend the rakyat’s rights,” he said.

Therefore, he said voters should be in a position to gauge which party was the most vocal and sincere in fighting for the rakyat.

“I hope voters in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar will be convinced that Amanah and Pakatan Harapan are the most sincere in fighting for them," he added.

This is not the first time that Rosmah has been criticised for using a private jet for visits abroad.

She allegedly used a government jet to also received an award in Padang, Indonesia in 2014.

Rosmah had, however, defended her use of private jets, saying they were for work and not leisure.

Malaysiakini has contacted Rosmah’s aide Rizal Mansor for comment on this allegation.

Two visitors with conflicting visions

By Lim Teck Ghee

Recently we had two distinguished Muslim visitors to our shores. The first, Zakir Naik, is a preacher and founder of the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) who gives talks on Islam and compares it with other world religions to showcase its merits, relevance and answer to all the problems of society.

His forte appears to lie in his photographic memory of the Quran and Hadith literature, and his espousal of the superiority of Islam over other religions as well as his critical anti-western views which has made him popular with Muslims all round the world. On his second tour of the country in April this year, he apparently received a rapturous reception in his public lectures.

Both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister had meetings with him. Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Minister of Home Affairs and responsible for the country's security, defended or chose to ignore the preacher's controversial views - which included a call made during a 2006 lecture for "every Muslim to be a terrorist" - and described him as a "very wise man".

The second visitor, Abdullahi An-Na'im, is a Professor of Law from Emory University, Georgia, USA, and internationally recognised as a scholar of Islam and advocate of human rights. He is the author of 'Islam and the Secular State' which has been translated into various languages.

Media coverage of his talks gives the impression that this, more academically qualified and more distinguished, scholar was only able to attract a small audience. His smaller following among Malaysian Muslims - and the failure of any prominent member of the Government to meet with him - indicates that both the country's Muslim community and the Government have little time for him or his reformist views.

As an example of his position on contentious issues, the distinguished professor has argued that Muslims have no religious obligation to support hudud law as it was not mentioned in the Quran. He has also pointed out that more than 40 member countries of the United Nations with predominantly Muslim majority population do not implement hudud in their legal system.

“Where is the hudud among all these Muslims? Why is it a priority in this country (Malaysia) when it has not been a priority in the vast Muslim majority countries?" he has asked.

In contrast, Zakir who has been labelled as "perhaps the most influential Salafi ideologue in India" is more extreme and conservative in his views on Islam, its stance on human rights, religious freedom, the secular state and a host of other issues. He has also been very vocal on what he would like to see for the political development of Malaysia.

According to him, a coalition government of Umno and PAS will be better for Malaysia as it will propel the country forward and strengthen Islam.

“I’m not saying that both parties (Umno and PAS) should make it as one party, but if they can make it, Alhamdulillah...(if not) you can keep your party, you can keep your identity, but when you have a coalition government, it should be a coalition of the Muslims.”

Putrajaya and Muslim masses' response

What explains the difference in Putrajaya's treatment of the two visitors is obvious. Together with other recent measures aimed at appealing to its Malay voters base, Umno is clearly stretching the boundaries of previous political acceptability and tolerance arising from its dominance within the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition, by using religion to shore up its political position.

But this alone does not explain the response of the larger Muslim community to the two visitors and the messages that they are articulating.

That message espoused by Abdullahi An-Na'im is a more humanistic and intellectually more rational and defensible Islam in keeping with the country's traditionally moderate Islamic values and mores. One would have expected a more enthusiastic response to it as compared with the more radical and hard line version propagated by Zakir Naik.

Why is it that these two visitors and their messages are resonating differently with the Malay Muslim masses is a crucial question to ask. A later article will attempt to answer this question.

For now, it will be useful to reproduce the concerns of Dr Azhar Ibrahim, in the conclusion of his article, "Secularism as Imagined in the Malay-Indonesian World: Resistance and its Muted Counter Responses in the Discursive and Public Realms”, published just a few days ago.

Most importantly, the timidity to scrutinise the very idea of secularism as commonly perceived, at both elite and public level, would mean that important concepts and ideas are considered outside the realm of discourse for Muslims to engage, grapple and contest. A critical and confident progressive Muslim discourse in scrutinising and engaging the Islamists’ anti-secularism rhetoric is therefore imperative. To remain silent and ambivalent about this issue will be naïve; if not tragic.

It is therefore not too far-fetched to say that anti-secularism sentiments are disruptive to a healthy development of democracy, human rights and civil liberties. It is not simply Muslims’ responses against the effects of modernity – deemed as secular – but an exclusivists’ response that insist on their supposedly authentic Islamic model, be it in the realms of politics, culture, education, social and economy. Loaded and justified with religious sanctions, often made in absolute terms, there will be hardly any space for other paradigms or models to be appropriated. In such a situation only the Islamists position stands. The very attack on the imagined secularism eventually will have deep consequences on democracy, human and legal rights, civil liberties, plurality and the like.

(Disclaimer: The opinions and comments expressed by the writers are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of The Heat Malaysia.)

Netherlands: Muslims attack non-hijabbed Muslima as “infidel whore”

A tremendous amount of social control is often exercised in Muslim communities to ensure Sharia compliance. Ostracism and brutalization and worse all too often await those Muslims who don’t go to mosque or abide by Sharia norms. This is a key reason why we don’t see larger numbers of Muslims backing up their pro-forma condemnations of jihad violence with genuine action against jihad terror: those who stand up against the dominant views are risking losing their families, their communities, and even their lives.

“Tunisian discriminated against by fellow Muslims,” a translation of “Tunesische gediscrimineerd door mede-moslims,” by Istvan Kovi, AD.nl, June 3, 2016 (thanks to Susan):

Muslim parents berate the integrated Tunisian Radia Laabidi, 38, regularly as “infidel and unclean.” The Amersfoort mother experiences this in the schoolyard. “I do not wear headscarves, but a skirt, and do not go to the mosque. So some may consider you an infidel whore.”

Laabidi believes that her children have been for some time a target of discrimination from other Muslims in their primary school in Amersfoort. A liberal Muslim woman, she was scolded recently at the school and even attacked. “She called to me and ran her nails across my face.” Radia defended himself fiercely. The brawl, in the sight of many children and parents, was ended by single fathers. Several parents witnessed and confirmed Radia’s account of events….

Shrink: Murder accused saw suicide as way for him and victim to be reborn as lovers

GEORGE TOWN: An engineer allegedly killed his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day three years ago and tried to commit suicide, so that he could be reunited with her in heaven, a High Court here heard.

Psychiatrist Dr Kelvin Lee, 40, from the Bukit Mertajam Hospital, said Cheong Teik Keon, 34, had allegedly stabbed his girlfriend three times and himself four times.

“His judgment was distorted. He may have felt that it was wrong but he did not care about the consequences.

“In his severe depressed state, he had a ‘romantic and idealistic’ idea that they will be reborn in heaven as lovers,” Dr Lee said in his evidence during examination-in-chief by DPP Lim Cheah Yit yesterday.

He was testifying in the trial of Cheong, who is alleged to have stabbed clerk Tan Ching Chin, 24, to death at her family home in Taman Hwa Seng in Alma, Bukit Mertajam, at 8.40am on Feb 14, 2013.

The offence under Section 302 of the Penal Code, carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

Dr Lee earlier told the court that Cheong was referred to him on Feb 18, 2013 for assessment following an alleged suicide attempt.

During cross examination by defence counsel Ramkarpal Singh, Dr Lee said there was a chance Cheong may have a relapse of depression if he was taken off his medication.

When re-examined, Dr Lee said Cheong was partially sane at the time of his assessment because he was aware of the incident.

“There was no psychotic or dissociative episode like him forgetting that the incident happened,” he said.

Judicial Commissioner Collin Lawrence Sequerah fixed June 16 for oral submissions.

Relative says all hostages freed by Abu Sayyaf

SIBU: A relative of two of the hostages held by Abu Sayyaf confirmed that all the four Sarawakians kidnapped by the group on April 1 have been freed and are on their way to Sabah.

“I was told that the four of them are in good health. Their family members are now in Sandakan waiting to receive them," she said.

It was earlier reported that brothers Wong Teck Kang, 31, and Wong Teck Chii, 29, their cousin, Johnny Lau Jung Hien,21 and Wong Hung Sing, 34, were released by Abu Sayyaf late Tuesday.

They were seized from their tugboat which was on its way to Sarawak from the Philippines.

The Abu Sayyaf had demanded a ransom of RM18mil for their release.

Waytha: BN component parties telling people a “half-truth” on hudud

The Hindraf Chief urges voters in the two parliamentary constituencies not be misled by the BN component parties trying to cover up their failings in the run-up to the June 18 by-elections.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: A human rights advocate has expressed dismay that Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties were telling the people a “half-truth” on hudud in the run-up to the June 18 by-elections in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar. “It’s not true to continue to claim that hudud will be imposed only on Muslims in Kelantan,” said Hindraf Makkal Sakthi Chairman P. Waythamoorthy who was born in Kelantan. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

“The people should not fall for such claims.”

Waytha, a senior lawyer in private practice who was in the Federal Cabinet briefly after GE13 and in the Senate, stressed in a telephone interview that he doesn’t want to get into the constitutional arguments against hudud for now. “My focus for now is on the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections at the people-oriented level.”

He urged voters in the two parliamentary constituencies not be misled by the BN component parties trying to cover up their failings in the run-up to the June 18 by-elections. It would be a mistake to take things for granted, he warned. “Non-Muslims in particular cannot accept candidates and political parties who push for hudud.”

“We must respect and uphold the Federal Constitution. There’s no place for hudud in the Federal Constitution. We can’t also make Allah exclusive to Muslims or seize Christian literature in Bahasa Malaysia.”

“Islamisation”, even before hudud, has been the bane of society in Malaysia, pointed out Waytha. “This has been true even in Sabah and Sarawak which have no religion in their constitutions, the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), 20 Points, 18 Points, Batu Sumpah and the constitutional documents on Malaysia.”

He recalled that no non-Muslim has been Governor of Sabah and Sarawak since 1963 and “if possible no non-Muslim in the two Borneo nations will be allowed to be Chief Minister in their own homelands”. He referred to PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang declaring recently, in the run-up to the May 7 state election in Sarawak, that the Chief Ministers of Sabah and Sarawak must be Muslim.

He reminded that Kelantan was the first state to ban female hairdressers, whether Muslim or otherwise, from attending to male clients, and to make separate lanes for male and female shoppers at supermarkets. “There are separate trolleys for halal and non-halal purchases and separate payment counters.”

Outside Kelantan, said the Hindraf Chief, government departments have barred the entry of female members of the public for wearing skirts which stop above the knees. “This is the tip of the iceberg.”

“Non-Muslims are being told not to eat in public, or even eat in the toilet, during Ramadan as Muslims are fasting. This is supposed to be ‘out of respect’ for Muslims and taking into account their ‘feelings’. What about respect for non-Muslims and their feelings?”

In Sabah and Sarawak, he continued, non-Muslims were told by the National Registration Department (NRD) to get a declaration from the Shariah Court if they want to leave Islam and have that fact stated in their MyKads. “These are not Muslims but people who were mistakenly labeled as Islam in their MyKads just because they had a bin in their name or had ‘Muslim’-sounding names.”

“In Sabah and Sarawak, many Orang Asal use bin in their names. Jeffrey Kitingan himself has a bin in his name. The NRD daren’t wag its tail with him. It bullies the poor kampung folks.”

Curiously, noted Waytha, many Muslims in Sabah who have “Christian” names have Islam in their MyKads. “Going by the logic of the NRD in dealing with non-Muslims who have bin in their names, these Muslims who have ‘Christian’ names should not have Islam in their MyKads. It’s a heads I win, tails you lose approach at the NRD.”

The man with a long keris

“Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.”

- Arthur Schopenhauer, ‘Essays and Aphorisms’

I have no idea what goes on in PAS these days. I do not think even PAS members know what is going on in PAS these days. Long-time members who consider me a friend (as I them) tell me that there this strong whiff of “nyanyuk” going on in the PAS leadership council.

PAS friends of mine were sniggering when party leader Abdul Hadi Awang cut that cake in the form of a PAS flag because to them it symbolised the balkanisation of PAS. Members carving out little fiefdoms or sultanates if one is so inclined, with Amanah the big orange elephant in the room.

Meanwhile, PAS vice-president Idris Ahmad said, “If our delegates came wearing shorts, our women came without wearing the headscarves, our leaders shaking hands between men and women, only then PAS can be accused of being deviant,” which just goes to show you that only PAS could describe normal behaviour as “deviant” within their ethos. This was the ‘PAS for all’ that we were told would usher in a new Malaysian dawn? I bet the vice-president thinks he has a long keris too.

Only in the mind of a Malay supremacist would a weapon (keris) be used as an ornament to liven up the political landscape. The keris is a dog whistle for non-Malays who understand the agenda behind those waving it around. When was the last time the keris was extended as a symbol of good faith?

Just recently non-Malays were reminded of Malay supremacy during the Red Shirt rally where our prime minster said, “Malays too can show that we can still rise up, rise up when our dignity is challenged; rise up when our leaders are insulted, ridiculed, embarrassed. Malays say enough, let no one repeat evil acts like that again.”

I wonder if he was talking about The Wall Street Journal. Or the numerous other Western publications that are mocking his regime and his lame responses to the barrage of revelations coming his way. But alas the defence of Malay dignity is confined to scaring the non-Malays, well the Chinese actually, rather than defending the office of the Malaysian prime minster overseas. Malay supremacy is local, I guess.

Look at the pictures from that rally and you would see politicians dressed to the nines in ‘Malay Warrior’ costumes. It would not surprise me if there are a few displays of the keris, too. I am sure most of the participants there believed they had long keris, too.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and Najib’s nemesis, remarked that the length of the keris is in proportion to displays of nationalism. Understandable. There is this Umno or Malay supremacist perception that waving a long keris about trumps responsible leadership. PAS now in bed with Umno may have caught something, which is why some PAS members feel compelled to act like Umno members.

The former prime minister also offered up his unique take on Islamic justice. The Umno strongman (most people dismiss him as a former strongman or that Najib has him on the ropes but I think differently) said when addressing the manufactured hudud controversy, "Is that (duality of punishment) justice? I don't think you will say it is justice. Justice can only be achieved if the punishment is the same for both. In this case, the punishments are different, they are not just, and therefore not Islamic."

More money stolen through corruption

Would it be true Islamic justice if it was a Malay man and another Malay man who did the hypothetical robbing? Let us assume that Malaysia was not a multiethnic/religious country. Would it be just to cut off a man’s hand for committing theft? By the way, what is the punishment if a man commits rape? Some kind of dismemberment one hopes.

Furthermore, what of our dual system of justice when it comes to Muslims and non-Muslims with regard to the syariah system of justice here in Malaysia? Surely, laws are not solely about punishments and why should certain aspects of Malay life be determined by Islamic jurisprudence?

This dual legal system has caused so many problems when it comes to the social and religious lives of Malaysians. And to be perfectly clear it is not the fault of the non-Muslims although certain non-Muslims have maliciously taken advantage of the system, especially in conversion cases.

A million, maybe even billions of ringgit, has been spent pushing the Islamic agenda and what has it done for the majority of the Malay community? Has it broadened their minds? Has it facilitated a sense of belonging between the various communities here in Malaysia? As the “religion of the federation”, has it proven effective is forming a sense of national identity?

No, what it has done is produced a UiTM lecturer who offers us these words of wisdom, “I don't trust females, because we believe men should lead women. They are not even the head in families, so how can they lead bigger things," and gentle readers, who do you think he means by “we”?

Perak PAS commissioner Razman Zakaria said, “Do you want your money stolen? Of course you don't, that's why you put up grills and alarms. In Islam, we don't have to do this; those who steal will face the music.”

Except more money is stolen through corruption than people breaking into houses. More money is stolen from the coffers of religious organisations. More money is stolen through government agencies. Yet nobody, certainly not from PAS, is interested in chopping off Malay/Muslim hands that have been pilfering from federal and state coffers.

Perhaps if Muslims from PAS do not like their wives and daughters harassed, maybe they should start a curfew for Muslim men (because they are the ones subject to hudud) instead of being obsessed with the attire and behaviour of their women.

However, all this is a show. A farce concocted by craven politicians in Putrajaya, enabled by opportunistic politicians from across the political divide, dressed up as serious political theatre. As one Umno insider told me, “Do you really think that hudud is going to happen here in Malaysia?” She continues, “Hudud and Hadi are convenient fillers to break the news cycle. Nobody takes them seriously. How could anyone take them seriously?”

The problem is that the world is littered with Islamic regimes formed by groups that existing power structures did not take seriously.

At the end of the day, never trust any man who wields a long keris.

S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy



Read more: https://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/344314#ixzz4AyGV65CN

Johor crown prince urged to intervene in critic's jailing

Student group Challenger has pleaded for Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim to intervene in the jailing of Muhammad Amirul Azwan Mohd Shakri.

The 19-year-old is currently serving a one-year jail sentence after pleading guilty to 14 counts of intentionally insulting the crown prince.

He was charged and sentenced under Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.

In an open letter today, Challenger spokesperson Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahmad urged Tunku Ismail to show magnanimity.

“We seek your assent to forgive Muhammad Amirul and do everything in your power to secure his freedom, such as by pardoning him or lobbying against Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act.

“We seek your assent to prove to Malaysians once again you are a leader who does as he preaches.

“We seek your assent to once again show an example to Malaysian leaders by being the bigger and better person,” the letter said.

Syed Saddiq said the group did not deny Muhammad Amirul's actions were unwarranted.

But freedom of speech should not be restricted simply because it was considered offensive, he said.

Challenger also praised Tunku Ismail for having previously defended his critics and for urging the police not to arrest them.

The past few weeks have seen a spate of arrests and prosecution, with action being taken against at least four people for posting comments critical of Tunku Ismail on social media.

Muhammad Amirul, a labourer, was arrested on April 28 and sentenced to jail yesterday.

On May 31, police boarded a fishing boat at sea to arrest a 46-year-old who supposedly went by the Facebook handle ‘Minah Pendek’.

Just three days prior, police arrested a 23-year-old assistant chef in Dengkil over comments he allegedly posted on Facebook that disparaged Tunku Ismail.

On May 26, Pahang football fan Masyhur Abdullah, 29, was remanded to facilitate investigations into an image he allegedly posted under the Twitter handle @thekeluangman.

Many of the allegedly offensive remarks are believed to pertain to football, as Tunku Ismail is the owner of the Johor Darul Takzim football club.

All of them had either been investigated or charged under Section 233, which criminalises the ‘improper use’ of network facilities with the intent of annoying, abusing, or threatening another person.

Various rights groups and lawyers have criticised the law as being too broad.

Police action came despite Tunku Ismail’s statement on May 30 urging the police not to arrest his critics, but instead arrange face-to-face meetings with him.

“I would prefer it if the authorities can organise a meeting for me to meet with these people and give them the privilege of saying what they want to say to my face, man to man.

“I would appreciate it if you can agree to my humble proposal,” he said in a Facebook post.

Mouths stuffed with 'animal feed' cannot voice dissent: Dr M's diagnosis

Apart from one or two dissenting voices, Umno has been supportive of its president Najib Abdul Razak in the face of numerous allegations against him.

And Dr Mahathir Mohamad has diagnosed the problem.

According to him, Umno members are stuffed with "animal feed (dedak)" and this in turn made them silent.

"It is said that animal feed was stuffed into the mouths of party members to keep them silent.

"There are even party members who admitted to receiving as much as RM1 million and RM2 million to shut their mouths about the crime that is clearly happening.

"They will just agree to everything," Mahathir said in his latest blog post.

The term "dedak" is often used to refer to people who have received benefits from certain quarters and have therefore become compliant to them.

Mahathir said it is for the same reason that a vote of no-confidence against the prime minister cannot be put into motion.

"Normally, when a leader abuses power, the Federal Constitution gives MPs the right to a no-confidence vote in the House.

"But because of animal feed and various pressures, no Umno and BN MPs, apart two from Umno, would dare to support a no-confidence vote if it is tabled," he said.

Mahathir claimed that Umno division leaders were also silent after seeing other leaders being arrested and charged after questioning the prime minister.

Likewise, he said Umno branch leaders were also sacked for critcising Najib.

"Regardless of Najib's wrongdoings, regardless that billions in government funds had gone missing, regardless of Najib suddenly possessing billions in his personal bank accounts which the source cannot be explained, BN MPs and Umno division leaders remained silent," he said.

Mahahir also lamented the loss of freedom of speech under Najib's government, claiming that the people's right to speak was under siege.

"The print and electronic media is fully controlled by Najib and no longer report the truth.

"Information is twisted that they do no reflect the real facts. Attempts are made to block the alternative media," he said.

Mahathir had accused Najib of corruption over the deposits of billions in his personal bank accounts, claiming that it is linked to state-owned 1MDB.

However, the prime minister denied this, and stressed that he had never taken public funds for personal gain.

He said the money in his personal bank accounts was an Arab "donation".

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has also cleared the prime minister of any wrongdoing.