Dr M: I resigned voluntarily, dictators don't

Dr Mahathir Mohamad said those who labelled him a "dictator" have forgotten how he had voluntarily resigned as prime minister in 2003.

He said dictators would not resign. They would hold on to their positions till death and be replaced by their sons.

"I resigned voluntarily. I was not succeeded by my son but by party leaders, who immediately tried to get the party and their governments to go against me.

"No dictator has ever resigned voluntarily," he added in a blog posting today.

Mahathir, who was prime minister for 22 years, said dictators tend to incur the wrath of their citizens once they lose power, but this did not happen to him.

"(Dictators) know once they lose power, the people would abuse and punish them.

"After I resigned, despite efforts by my successors to demonise me, the people continued to accept and support me.

"Even opposition parties, which used to condemn me, are willing to accept me and the party I formed. They even chose me as one of their leaders. Which dictator has had this experience?" he asked.

On Sunday, Najib told the Masjid Tanah Umno division annual general meeting that Umnois more democratic and open under his reign.

Najib had cited how he had abolished the "quota and bonus vote" system introduced by Mahathir, where a prospective candidate for party presidency needed nominations from 50 divisions to qualify.

"Who is more dictator in the party? Umno doesn't belong to me. In fact, it is more open today than in the past. I became the party leader because of the support from Umno members," said Najib.

Kleptocratic dictator

However, Mahathir rubbished this claim, citing how Najib had allegedly prevented attempts to challenge him while having his deputy and the Kedah menteri besar removed.

He also accused Najib of abusing the taxman to go after opposition-friendly business owners.

"Now Najib is calling me a dictator. Coming from him, this assertion is ridiculous.

"There is now total censorship of the print and electronic media. He got the police to arrest and detain the people who reported on his alleged criminal activities.

"Najib enacted new laws, which give him the power to detain anyone without trial. If the person dies, no inquest would be carried out.

"In Umno, no one was allowed to contest against him. Even the 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion in his personal account were not allowed to be mentioned by delegates to the Umno general assembly, or at any other time.

"The record shows that Najib is a dictator, a kleptocratic dictator," Mahathir said. - Mkini