COMMENT | The leaders of Pakatan Harapan who insist that former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad does not need to apologise for his arrest and detention of more than a hundred innocent Malaysians in October 1987 do not seem to realise the consequences of their actions.

Just like the refusal of the Penang chief minister to step down while he is being charged for corruption can now be a precedent for Najib to follow if the latter is ever charged for corruption, imagine this:

If Najib decides to step down tomorrow in the light of the 1MDB scandal, will the Harapan leaders “forgive” him just like they have “forgiven” Mahathir?

Well, they may well be so relieved to have got rid of the Umno supremo that they “forgive” him, but what about the RM2.6 billion in his personal account or the alleged commissions in the RM7.5 billion Scorpene deal and all the other scandals? Can Najib then whistle into the bright sunset without having to say “sorry”?

This is what I am getting at - in human rights, democracy and justice, miscreant autocrats and kleptocrats cannot get away with impunity.

Impunity means "exemption from punishment or loss or escape from fines". It refers to the failure to bring perpetrators of human rights violations, rule-of-law flouters, and the corrupt to justice and constitutes a denial of the victims' right to justice and redress.

What’s hate got to do with it?

What’s hate got to do with it? Throughout my mature life, I have always criticised a person’s actions, never the person. As such, I never harbour hatred. It does not dwell in my body’s dictionary.

Now, if Mahathir apologises to Operation Lalang detainees and I refuse to accept his apology, then you could say I harbour hate in my heart.

But we are talking about the credibility of Mahathir being a ‘born-again’ democrat. If he has indeed undergone a democratic transformation rather than merely wanting Najib out so that his son can rise up the political ladder, then we should embark on a process of reconciliation and clarity about the democratic space we want for Malaysia.

Thus, besides an apology, Mahathir should give testimony about how his thinking has changed from the time he was PM and now, and what that means for democracy.

Does he, for example, acknowledge that grave injustice was committed during Operation Lalang? Does he acknowledge that harm was done via the incarceration of key contributors who served the community in multiple ways?

Does he acknowledge the hardships and psychological damage experienced by the detainees’ families? Does he acknowledge that many lives were destroyed even though some robotic politicians treated their detentions as “chilling out” time away from political work?

For the rest of Malaysian society, the damage to democratic institutions such as our judiciary that Mahathir is responsible for is felt to the present day. And Najib has merely inherited Mahathir’s handiwork and made the concentration of executive powers even more foolproof.

If these Harapan politicians know anything about accountability and justice, they will know that the Malaysian people still want to ensure that these former politicians get their just desserts and repay their dues to the rakyat. Is Mahathir willing to come to the table and be held to account?

Apologise to the many, not the few

Let us not forget that some of our elite did rather well under Mahathir – some got favoured contracts including legal contracts, others gained from Mahathir’s privatisation policies in all areas including private higher education; politicians who were not physically tortured under Operation Lalang actually earned a badge of honour from their ISA detention which boosted their political careers.

They might even want to thank Mahathir for his reign. As one of these Harapan leaders has recently confessed: “Under Mahathir, we could hold our heads high, now under Najib…”

No, Mahathir may not owe these elite any apologies. He owes an apology not only to all the victims of Operation Lalang but also to the former lord president and the supreme court judges that he sacked in 1988 and to the Malaysian rakyat for all the financial scandals since the 70s and 80s that have cost the rakyat billions of ringgit.

Mahathir can be seen as the father of crony capitalism in Malaysia. According to the social scientist Barry Wain, Mahathir squandered close to RM100 billion during his reign as Prime Minister.

The leader of the opposition knows of these scandals more than anyone else in this country – during the 80s, he called Mahathir’s privatisation of our national assets, “piratisation”.

This is not to mention the billions lost through the Proton fiasco and its costs to the environment and the failure of a public transport system in the country.

And don’t forget the RM5 billion arms deal that Mahathir signed with Margaret Thatcher in 1988, that led to allegations of “commissions” paid to Umno, which in turn led to the “Arms for Aid” and “Buy British Last” furore in 1994.

Leaving all that aside - all we are asking for now is for Mahathir to say “sorry” for that dastardly deed in October 1987 when he took away so many days of our freedom (445 days of my life) and made us withstand torturous days…and he can’t even do that? What kind of democrat is he? What is he harbouring in his heart?

Down with autocrats and kleptocrats

The downfall of tyrants and dictators requires a united coalition and mass direct action involving the ordinary citizens of all ethnic groups.

Unfortunately, Pakatan Harapan has succeeded in pushing out their former allies PAS, who at least provided the Malay masses in past rallies and demonstrations against the Umno/BN regime and facilitated a one-to-one challenge to the BN.

The Harapan leaders really owe the rakyat an apology for the breakup of the opposition coalition that we tried so hard since the 80s to create.

Pakatan Rakyat representatives were elected because of their declared “reformasi” policies. Their readiness to have the former autocrat as their “interim PM” exposes their opportunism in the attempt to depose Najib.

Can the prospective “Interim PM” Dr Mahathir lay out to all Malaysians what transformational changes he will make to the democratic institutions in this country?

GE14 is about real reforms, not opportunism

Opportunism in its crudest form can be seen when politicians target an individual and not the political regime and political economic system that oppresses, divides and exploits the people.

This so-called “Save Malaysia” campaign to only expel Najib but maintain rule of the same racist and exploitative dominant party is nothing short of pure opportunism.

Reforms that do not target the neoliberal economic policies that were set in fast motion by Mahathir in the early 80s are not serious reforms. Taxes on the rakyat will continue and income disparities will continue to widen while the working class will continue to bear the burden of so-called development.

Najib has merely made more extreme the structures created by Mahathir to entrench the powers of the executive, emasculate the democratic institutions and provide the means for private enrichment of the elite in this country.

Racist and racial discriminatory policies were also entrenched by Mahathir in the early 80s and further manipulated by Najib until today.

KUA KIA SOONG is the adviser of human rights group Suaram.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.