Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's warning of Arab Spring-type demonstrations in Malaysia must be taken seriously following his obession to become prime minister, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Saying he knew Anwar's capacity for disruptions, the former prime minister noted that Anwar had in the past shown himself to be a master of demonstrations.
Dr Mahathir pointed out that the moment he became Education Minister in 1974, Anwar had organised a students' demonstration, claiming that starvation had caused the death of a boy in Baling, Kedah but there was no serious demonstration for 16 years when the Parti Keadilan Rakyat de facto leader joined the government.
"Once he was out of government there were weekly demonstrations. His obsession with becoming prime minister will drive him to create an 'Arab Spring' so that his ambition would become a reality.
"To him, it doesn't matter if the country is destabilised and regresses economically as long as he gets to be prime minister," Dr Mahathir said in his latest blog posting titled 'Anwar's Promise' at www.chedet.cc today.
He was responding to Anwar's promise to engineer an Arab Spring in Malaysia as reported in Australia.
Dr Mahathir said Anwar would organise demonstrations involving hundreds of thousands of people -- as what he did in the 'Bersih' demonstrations -- in order to bring down the government if he loses the coming general election.
He also pointed out that Anwar had organised a demonstration every Saturday when he was dismissed from his post as deputy prime minister which disrupted business in Kuala Lumpur as people avoided going into the city.
"Anwar knows the damage he can cause Malaysia's economy with his massive demonstrations. Malaysians may be persuaded to vote for his party in order to avoid suffering economically from the demonstrations.
"It would be a sad day indeed for Malaysia if this kind of threats are made to win elections," he said. --
BERNAMA
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