Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said this in response to the former premier’s claim that Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia was biased when issuing a gag order on all dicussions on state-owned 1MDB.
He likened Mahathir’s statement to that of Trump’s, who during his presidential campaign said that he would accept the result of the elections only if it was in his favour.
“If he (Trump) loses, he will consider (the elections) are rigged. That mentality is the same as the Opposition parties here.
“There is no difference between Trump and the Opposition parties.
“(And) I don’t want Mahathir to be like Trump. If things don’t go his way, then it is because of bias, but if they go his way, then that’s fine,” he told reporters when met at the Dewan Rakyat lobby here today.
Mahathir made his claim in a meeting with Opposition lawmakers this morning. It was held to discuss the alleged erosion of parliamentary immunity.
He said parliamentary democracy under the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak appeared to be under great threat and he even predicted that one day, all debates would be banned in the House.
This came following the police probe on former ministers Muhyiddin Yassin, Shafie Apdal and Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, who were accused of breaching their oath of secrecy by speaking in the House about information that they allegedly obtained while they were Cabinet members.
Shabery, however, pointed to the clampdown on freedom of speech during Mahathir’s 22 years in power.
“Mahathir was the strongest supporter of the Official Secrets Act (OSA). He even made several amendments to the Act.
“Even reporters had protested as they could be put behind bars for publishing certain statements.
“At the time, OSA was also applicable to Members of Parliament,” said Shabery.
“He’s saying all this now that he is no longer in the government. So I think there is an agenda behind his statements.”