Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times by Barry Wain (best novels to read in english TXT) 📗

responsible for the "May 13" riots. Malays, whether UMNO or the opposition Persatuan Islam Sa Tanah Melayu (PAS), "really hate you...," he said. "I wish to convey what the community really thinks, which is that it is high time you resigned as prime minister and head of UMNO." Dr. Mahathir said he felt the responsibility to speak up, even if it meant he might be jailed. He accused the Tunku of continuing to play poker "with your Chinese friends" during the emergency, using police vehicles and escorts to find players.

On a sensitive, personal note, Dr. Mahathir wrote that he had heard that the Tunku had called him "Pakistani" — an allusion to his South Indian forebears — but he did not believe it. This was because Dr. Mahathir had always defended the Tunku when PAS called him "the son of Siam" — a reference to his Thai mother — which implied he was unfit to be the leader of the Malays. So, Dr. Mahathir said, he expected that the Tunku would have defended him, despite his having "two spoonfuls of Pakistani blood in my body".

Having withdrawn earlier at the merest hint of a brush with Tunku Abdul Rahman, Dr. Mahathir chose the extreme opposite tack this time: frontal assault. It was all or nothing again. And it was hugely risky for anyone hoping to climb the political ladder, though it was almost certainly carefully calculated. As would become clearer later, Dr. Mahathir rarely, if ever, made a political move without weighing the likely consequences. More than most, he realized how deeply unpopular the Tunku had become among Malays.

The Tunku was doubly furious to find that Dr. Mahathir's letter was being read throughout the country. While student sympathizers passed on copies, the letter was systematically distributed by a group that included Razak's aide, Abdullah Ahmad. Members chipped in a total of RM1,500 to cover ink, envelopes and postage, copied the letter and mailed it to everyone on UMNO, universities and civil service invitation lists that they obtained.[15]

How and when the letter left Dr. Mahathir's hands remained disputed. "He gave it to the right people," said Abdullah, who maintained that he saw a copy before Dr. Mahathir sent it to Tunku Abdul Rahman. Abdullah said he showed the letter to Razak, who said, "I've read it. We've discussed it, but please understand that I haven't seen this letter."[16] Dr. Mahathir, however, denied circulating the letter in advance to anyone. "Later on, I gave copies to friends" as a "kind of insurance. If anything happens to me they will know I have done this".[17]

The one person Dr. Mahathir might have informed, considering he was jeopardizing his political career, was Dr. Siti Hasmah. But he told his wife nothing — "I was shocked," she said — establishing a pattern of behaviour that he was to observe throughout his political life.[18] Involved in some of the most tumultuous events in the nation's history, Dr. Mahathir declined to discuss them as they unfolded with his family. Returning home in the evening after upheavals in the government or party, he would usually remain tight-lipped. Like other Malaysians, his wife and children learned what happened from newspaper and TV reports. "We would never know about it, even if he had a big day," said Mukhriz Mahathir.[19]

Tunku Abdul Rahman's response to Dr. Mahathir was an ultimatum: Resign or be expelled from the party. Sensing high-level sympathy for Dr. Mahathir, even with the deputy prime minister, the Tunku also issued an ultimatum to Razak: It was either him or Mahathir.[20] With Razak presiding, Dr. Mahathir was evicted on 12 July 1969 from UMNO's Supreme Council, to which he had been elected on an annual basis since 1965. Aware of what the verdict would be, Dr. Mahathir still refused to apologize or back down when addressing fellow council members. The charge was breach of party discipline, that he had widely circulated correspondence containing "vitally important party matters" that should have been first discussed by the Supreme Council. He insisted then, as he would subsequently, that he had not abetted its dissemination. On 26 September, Dr. Mahathir was kicked out of the party altogether. Musa Hitam, one of his staunchest allies in the anti-Tunku campaign, was forced to resign as assistant minister to the deputy prime minister.

With Musa heading abroad to study and Dr. Mahathir beating a retreat to Kedah to resume full-time practice as a doctor, the crisis in UMNO was over, and Tunku Abdul Rahman appeared to have prevailed. But it was something of a last gasp for the Tunku. Students at institutions of higher learning were agitating for his removal, making it necessary for the National Operations Council to ban "any meeting, procession, demonstration or public utterance to get Tunku Abdul Rahman to step down from office". Dr. Mahathir's letter was also formally banned, with printing, selling or distributing it punishable by three years imprisonment and a fine of RM2,000. With this sort of protection, no outsiders could force the Tunku to quit, though just as surely he would no longer have the final say on matters of substance. New policies were on the way to ensure Malay political dominance, and the Tunku would be carried along with the tide, before being eased out.

Dr. Mahathir blamed Chinese voters for the surprising loss of his seat. Friends said he courted defeat with a loose comment in advance that he could win if all the Malays, who constituted 80 to 90 per cent of the Kota Star South constituency, voted for him. His remark was interpreted in a Chinese newspaper as an insult to mean he did not need Chinese support, and Chinese voters responded by deserting him in favour of his PAS opponent.[21] Dr. Mahathir agreed that the Chinese — who held what he called "the casting vote" since the Malays were fairly evenly split — had switched allegiance. But he said it was because "they thought I was a Malay ultra", the label given to him by Singapore. Defying