Whacking Dr M in order to curry favour with Najib is wrong

Umno’s Syed Ali Alhabshee says K K Eswaran is whacking Mahathir Mohamad and supporting Najib Razak because he is in a financial bind.

PETALING JAYA: Taking pot shots at a former prime minister just because one is trying desperately to stay in the good books of the present one is akin to playing ‘dirty politics’ said, Umno Cheras Division Chief Syed Ali Alhabshee in his blog posting today.

Syed Ali was referring to the recent statements made by president of the Malaysian Associated Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MAICCI), K K Eswaran, who he said was “shooting off his mouth” when he alleged that Mahathir Mohamad did next to nothing to uplift the plight of the Indian community.

“Just because Tan Sri Eswaran supports YAB DS Najib, it does not warrant accusations and condemnation against Dr Mahathir,” Syed Ali said, adding that on the contrary, Mahathir made “generous allocations” to the Indian community through various economic plans.

Accusing Eswaran of having ulterior motives, Syed Ali said, “What is true is that Tan Sri Eswaran is trying to curry favor even further with Prime Minister YAB DS Najib Razak by coming up with ludicrous statements taking a whack at Dr Mahathir.”

He turned the tables on Eswaran, saying, “We have seen Dr Mahathir’s contributions to our country. In comparison let’s look at Tan Sri Eswaran’s contribution to Malaysia.

Syed Ali explained that Eswaran while being the recipient of many funds, had yet to present a detailed account of how he used the money he received to benefit the Indian community.

“Besides a few capacity building seminars, we don’t know how the money was used to empower and push the Indian community forward.”

He suggested that Eswaran needed to throw his support behind Najib only because he was in a financial tight spot himself.

“Maybe Tan Sri Eswaran is forced to constantly be in the good books of the Prime Minister due to financial constraints,” he said, adding that the company in which Eswaran has a business interest in is losing money by the day.

“In the 2013 financial statement, the Asian Broadcasting Network (ABN) that is 70 per cent owned by Tan Sri Eswaran had registered a net loss of 36.2 million ringgit, which indicates that the company did not make profits since 2009.

“ABN, which recently shut down its news department, known as ABNxcess, has shown signs of dismantling due to intense competition,” Syed Ali said, adding that Eswaran’s “malicious intent” for driving a wedge between Mahathir and Najib was therefore “clear”.

He said, “Maybe he (Eswaran) should instead focus on what he could do in his capacity as the (MAICCI) president for the Indian community and stay out of dirty politicking.”