NYT and its agenda of making sure the "nasty spat" not only continue but gets nastier in Ramadan

With updates

For sure, as JMD underscores h e r e, it was the New York Times' correspondent who had requested for the exclusive interview with the Tun, for the reverse (i.e Dr Mahathir Mohamad requesting for the NYT to interview him) would be simply unthinkable! 

But I would still have questioned the timing the NYT chose to publish the article. They know very well that we are "an officially-Muslim country" and they decided to publish the piece on the eve of  our holiest month Ramadan. It's an editorial act, I must say, verging on the malice. JMD may not agree but I grew up as a journalist during Dr M's era, when we were taught to view foreign media with the greatest suspicion. Anwar Ibrahim, for example, was the darling of the foreign media when he was the Deputy Prime Minister  (and I doubt he had to pay a single sen to any of them, either) and weren't we right to be suspicioius of him?

So the NYT got what it wanted, and Tun got to rehash what he'd been saying. So on the first day of holy Ramadan, PM Najib Razak got accused of doing things "verging on criminal" (not exactly as a criminal yet, Salleh Syed Keruak please note, but close and still is the darndest accusation made thus far by the Old Man). And the ghost of Altantuya is ressurrected once again, and Rosmah Mansor "projects herself too much" again, etc etc.

Nothing new, as JMD pointed out (which is not entirely true, actually - Dr M's response on Myanmar/Rohingya vs the Malaysian Chinese is classic, pls see notes at the end of this posting) ...

But there goes our hope for a holy ceasefire.

p.s. For the record, I've never heard Anifah Aman speak ill of Dr M. His open letter to the NYT, in response to the article by the NYT based on the exclusive interview with Dr M that was sprinkled with quotes by others, including Rafizi Ramli (see end notes again), stems from genuine regret, I'm sure. Perhaps because the NYT article was published, coincidentally of course, on the day Malaysia was to chair the United Nations Security Council meeting. If he thought NYT was out to embarrass Malaysia on the occasion, can I blame him?

Updated: Malaysia leads effort to end war crimes against children

Anifah chaired the UNSC meeting today

OPEN LETTER TO THE NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR

1.     It is regrettable to see Tun Mahathir seeking to undermine his own country in the international media as part of a personal political vendetta.

2.     It is irresponsible of any citizen, let alone a former prime minister, to spread lies and distortions about state owned companies – saying for example that RM42 bn is missing from 1MDB to create public anxiety, when in fact these are audited debts backed by RM51 bn assets. These reckless claims have affected market sentiment towards Malaysia.

3.     Furthermore, it is telling that he continues to mount his attacks, rather than wait for the findings of the enquiries currently being undertaken by Malaysia’s central bank, Auditor General, and parliament’s bipartisan Public Accounts Committee. This shows that Tun Mahathir is not interested in answers from the appropriate lawful authorities. Rather, he is just using 1MDB as an excuse to topple the serving prime minister, Najib Tun Razak.

4.     And all because his personal demands, as Tun Mahathir himself has acknowledged, are not being met. Prime Minister Najib, as Malaysia’s democratically elected leader, will do what he thinks is right for the nation, and will not allow rule by proxy.

5.     Tun Mahathir told the New York Times that UMNO “lacks vision and talented people”, that it “has become a repository of patronage-seeking politicians”, and that members “try to keep out people who are more intelligent than themselves”. But it is Tun Mahathir who led the party for 22 years. It was he that, during his time, worked to cultivate ‘yes men’ and entrench his position – even introducing a quota system for the UMNO presidency to prevent challengers – rather than bringing in talent and strengthening the party. It is Prime Minister Najib who democratised the party constitution to make it far easier to challenge him for his job.‎

6.     For Tun Mahathir to accuse Prime Minister Najib of acts “verging on criminal” is simply outrageous, and entirely false. It is a measure of the reforms put in place under Prime Minister Najib’s administration that Tun Mahathir has the freedom to be so vocally critical of the party and government he once led.‎

7.     But Tun Mahathir is abusing that freedom, and his privileged standing as a former prime minister, to indulge in reckless and baseless personal smears against Prime Minister Najib and his family. Most Malaysians would rather see Tun Mahathir retire gracefully than continue to damage the standing of his own country for personal political gain.

Y.B. Dato’ Sri Anifah bin Haji Aman

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia

Notes: The NYT's article quoted Dr Mahathir calling for Asean to kick out Myanmar and for the world to boycott that nation for atrocities against the Rohingyas. I thought this was front page material. But then Myanmar is America's latest sweetheart in this region, so I won't expect NYT to follow through. In fact, I was surprised the quotes made the article:

On Myanmar’s treatment of the Rohingya:

This country claims that the Rohingya are not their people. They’ve been there for 800 years, much longer than the Chinese in Malaysia. The atrocities committed are terrible. They killed and burned people, they beat people to death. In this day and age, people should not behave like that. Asean [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations] should do something. If necessary, I think I would expel this country. It’s terrible. The whole world should boycott this country.

Read more h e r e

Notes 2: Rafizi had the last say (laugh) in the article, actually. I think it was the plan from the start, to help the Opposition reclaim credit for 1MDB:

Rafizi: We've been at 1MDB for FIVE years lah!

“We have been talking about and highlighting 1MDB for the last five years, and although it slowly gained momentum as a national issue, things changed the moment Mahathir picked 1MDB as an issue to bring down Najib,” said Rafizi Ramli, an opposition Parliament member. “For the first time, a government scandal has reached the attention of both sides of the political divide. In fact, it’s a bipartisan issue.”

Thomas Fuller reported from Putrajaya, and Louise Story from New York.

Read the full article h e r e