“The environment where Mahathir was labelled a dictator is no longer there today.
“People should not worry as there is no one person to run the show alone,” he said.
Speaking to FMT, Santiago admitted that Mahathir could have done more for the Indians, especially to alleviate the poverty afflicting plantation workers and the urban poor.
He added that he understood the community’s concern over Pakatan Harapan (PH) choosing the PPBM chairman to lead the country again should the opposition win in the next general election (GE14).
However, he said the balance of power among PH component parties marked a different political environment.
“In PH, we are committed to uplifting the fate of the Indians. PKR and DAP have been fighting for the Indian community for so many years.
“In fact, PH will soon present a new deal for the Indian community that will get the support of Mahathir, and it will also be part of PH’s manifesto,” he told FMT.
He was responding to the Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MAICCI), which reportedly said that the Indian community fared poorly during Mahathir’s 22 years in power.
Its president Kenneth Eswaran said the Indian community had done well under the leadership of the first three prime ministers but that things had changed when Mahathir took office in 1981.
Santiago however gave the example of the Selangor government, which is under federal opposition parties, saying it had held many programmes to alleviate Indian poverty.
“Selangor has launched the Selangor Indian Entrepreneur programme which focuses on creating young entrepreneurs, especially from those in the B40 group.
“In the last three months, we have trained about 350 people,” he said, adding that Barisan Nasional (BN) was instilling fear in the Indian community.
“But the Indians are not stupid. They know better.”
Santiago said the Indians, especially those from the middle-class and B40, were tired of BN’s empty promises.
“The Indians are slowly warming up to Mahathir but various parties will have to go to the ground to explain further,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bersih activist Rama Ramanathan acknowledged that more attention had been paid to the Indian community in the past eight years than at any time previously.
But he said there were three principal reasons for this.
“The first is the eruption of protest by Indians sparked by Hindraf in 2007.
“The second is that BN now desperately needs the Indian votes to win in marginal constituencies.
“The third, and perhaps most important, is that ‘the Indian problem’ of marginalisation leading to poverty, family breakdown, health crises and crime has become a national problem,” he said.
He said the second and third reasons would have received the necessary attention and action for the community’s benefit, regardless of who was prime minister.