Malays not happy with Dr Mahathir for presence at Bersih rally, claims Utusan

Malays are not happy with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for making an appearance at the Bersih 4 rally last night, Utusan Malaysia reported today, saying that the former prime minister's action was contradictory to his previous stand on protests. Awang Selamat, the pseudonym for the collective editorial team of the Umno-mouthpiece, said that Dr Mahathir had seen a series of "illegal and wild protests" from supporters of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He was referring to the 1998 "reformasi" period after Dr Mahathir, who was the prime minister then, sacked his deputy Anwar, triggering a wave of mass demonstrations and protests in Kuala Lumpur. "He never backed down and in fact, had always slammed the culture of illegal assemblies despite it being seen as a movement of the people by the foreign media and by Anwar himself," Awang wrote in Mingguan Malaysia, the weekend edition of Utusan Malaysia. "For the Bersih organisers and participants, it is seen as a sign of his support towards the rally. But all the feedback we received, especially from Malays, expresses discomfort and anger with Dr Mahathir, who had always rejected Bersih." Awang said that for the longest time, the majority of the people had collectively defended him from waves of demonstrations, but Dr Mahathir "continued with his character". "He can do anything he wants even if it contradicts with his principle then and now in that regards. To Awang, his presence last night was something that was inappropriate but let the people evaluate," he added. Dr Mahathir and his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali arrived at Dataran Merdeka at about 7.30pm last night, where thousands of Bersih 4 rally participants were gathered. They were greeted by hundreds of yellow-shirt protesters at the rally. He reportedly told the crowd that he just wanted to see what was happening at the rally. The presence of Malaysia's longest-serving prime minister at the rally created frenzy with many wanting to take pictures with him and shake his hand. He even said a few words, "Teruskan, teruskan", urging those gathered for the Bersih 4 rally to continue their fight in calling for a clean government. Dr Mahathir and Dr Siti Hasmah only stayed for about five minutes before leaving in a police car. As he got into his car and drove away, the crowd erupted into a bigger cheer, indicating a moral victory against the ruling government. Dr Mahathir has been Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's biggest critic over the past year in the wake of controversies surrounding the latter's administration. He had told Najib to resign months ago, a demand that Bersih 4 is also making, apart from its demands for reforms in the election system, governance, the economy, parliamentary democracy and the freedom to protest. – August 30, 2015.