DOMPET KOSONG

Ex-ISA detainee now embraces Dr M – for the sake of a mission

KUALA LUMPUR: He was detained twice under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and even charged with possession of firearms during the reformasi era when Malaysians took to the streets demanding the resignation of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whom they accused of power abuse and corruption and held responsible for jailing his deputy Anwar Ibrahim.

Hishamuddin Rais, a veteran in street protests, suffered at the hands of Mahathir, who ruled the country for 22 years. But now, after 30 years of battling the government and Mahathir’s regime, he has decided to back his former arch enemy.

So, what caused Hishamuddin’s change of heart? The Malay College Kuala Kangsar old boy said he decided to embrace Mahathir because the former prime minister and now opposition icon is the man most capable of toppling Prime Minister Najib Razak and his BN coalition in the 14th general election (GE14).

And more importantly, Hishamuddin believes that Mahathir can pave the way for Anwar to become the country’s eighth prime minister should Pakatan Harapan capture Putrajaya in GE14. Pakatan Harapan has nominated Mahathir as its prime minister candidate, and agreed to seek a full pardon for Anwar, who is in jail for a sodomy conviction and is due for release in June.

Elaborating on his rationale for backing Mahathir, Hishamuddin said the 92-year-old leader can swing the rural votes away from Umno and also holds sway among voters in the 25-35 age group as well as civil servants.

“He can convince the important sectors in this country. He creates the confidence and he has the impact because he is a former prime minister. He has the image to get the rural voters such as the Felda settlers to vote for Pakatan Harapan.

“Secondly, voters from the ages of 25 to 35 have witnessed his capabilities. Physical evidence is there, such as the twin towers, LRT and KTM, the KLIA airport and Putrajaya, to name a few.

“Thirdly, for current civil servants and retired ones they still believe in Mahathir. They have faith in him if he leads the country back, and that is why I agree that he becomes the prime minister again because with him in charge Pakatan Harapan can win,” he said.

Hishamuddin, a student leader in the 70s, added that the only way to install Anwar as the eighth prime minister is by putting Mahathir in Putrajaya first.

“Mahathir is a well-known product. He is accepted by many and he is also rejected by many. But I am confident that the only way for Anwar to become prime minister is that PH must first win and the win must come through Mahathir.”

Asked about Mahathir’s past misdeeds as alleged in his blog Tukar Tiub, Hishamuddin said Mahathir’s biggest sin was in preventing three people — Musa Hitam, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Anwar Ibrahim — from becoming prime minister.

“From the three, I will be satisfied if one can succeed, which is Anwar Ibrahim,” Hishamuddin explained.

Hishamuddin was a well-known youth activist who in his early 20s fled the country via Sungai Golok to evade the police.

Without a luggage or a suitcase full of clothes, he traveled half of the world and once managed to avoid deportation from India by hiding in an air ventilation system for a day before getting political asylum in Belgium.

Now 67, Hishamuddin is accused of being a traitor to the reformation cause but he denied that supporting Mahathir meant he was abandoning his struggle.

“There are two things here. I support Mahathir but my struggle remains the same. My aim is to bring down Umno and that has been my aim since I was a student in Universiti Malaya.

“Yes, I support Mahathir as the prime minister but I have my reasons. I accept him as an instrument to move forward as a country. However, my aim to bring down Umno is still the same. How can I be a sellout?” he said.

Hishamuddin said he respected the opinions of others but in a war it is important to stay focused on the bigger picture.

“In a war we must make more friends and fewer enemies. We do not have to open up so many battlefields.

“We have to focus on one common enemy, that is Najib Razak. Mahathir has this focus and I have this focus too. We have a common understanding, and that is why I am on the same ship,” he said.

Hishamuddin, a film director, said although it would be impossible to forget the torments he endured while in detention, he wanted to move on and fight the big battle.

“Impossible for me to forget how I was kept in solitary confinement for days, barefooted and slept on the ground. Impossible.

“But what is there to whine about? I have travelled a long way, a long journey to reach here and my heaviest luggage during my journey was an empty wallet.

“The heaviest luggage for one to carry is vengeance and that is the biggest baggage a human can carry. I am fortunate that I only carry an empty wallet everywhere I go,” he firmly said when asked about forgiveness.

Universiti Malaya political analyst Awang Azman Awang Pawi said the split between the pro-Mahathir and anti-Mahathir groups in Pakatan Harapan would affect its effectiveness.

“These two factions will cause problems for Pakatan Harapan. Although I suspect it will not be a big one, it will somehow damage the opposition’s focus to fight BN,” he said.

He said it would be hard for these two groups to find a common understanding and agree to disagree.

“It will be an internal problem for PH. Umno, on the other hand, is always ready and its election machinery is very strong.

“PH will have to be more steady and must have a strategy to focus on these two problems,” he added.

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