In daily talking about riots and trouble in the general election campaign, Malaysians must begin to ask whether Mahathir’s real agenda is to deliberately create an atmosphere of fear in the country which would be most irresponsible to say the least, and most unbecoming for a Prime Minister.
This is the first time in Mahathir’s four general elections since 1982 where the generation of an atmosphere of fear and dark warnings about May 13, riots and trouble seem such an central and persistent plank of Barisan Nasional election propaganda.
I had more than once proposed an all-party meeting of leaders of all political parties contesting in the general election to make a public commitment to ensure that the tenth general election would be trouble-free.
DAP has pledged that DAP leaders would ensure that DAP members and supporters would maintain the highest discipline so that there would be no untoward incidents in the snap eight-day election campaign.
However, instead of making such a public commitment that Barisan
Nasional leaders and supporters would not create any untoward incidents
in the election campaign, and getting an all-party pledge with the same
objective, Mahathir is more interested in generating an atmosphere of fear
and insecurity by daily harping on the subject of riots and trouble in
the election campaign.
I call on Mahathir to immediately stop his harping on
May 13, riots and trouble which can only generate an atmosphere of fear
and insecurity as this will not allow a free, fair and clean election
to be held.
The Election Commission should have convened an all-party meeting to draw up a code of ethical election conduct, one of which is to commit all political parties and leaders to a trouble-free campaign and to refrain from talking about May 13, riots and trouble which can only engender at atmosphere of fear and insecurity in the country.
The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Norian Mai should ask for an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister to advise him to stop harping on May 13, riots and trouble as unhelpful in promoting conditions for a trouble-free general election campaign.
(19/11/99)