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©New
Straits Times (Used by permission)
KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been asked to
put a lid on his criticisms of candidates vying for Umno's deputy presidency.
Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, the youngest of the four candidates
contesting for the No 2 seat, said it was unfair for the former Umno president
to call them "jokers".
On Wednesday, Dr Mahathir said Nur Jazlan, along with party vice-president Datuk
Seri Mohd Ali Rustam and information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib were
just "jokers", while endorsing vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin for the
post.
"He forgot that when he asked Tunku (Abdul Rahman) to resign in 1969, people,
too, called him a joker."
Nur Jazlan, 42, said his candidacy symbolises the need for fresh ideas to effect
positive changes in Umno, similar to what Dr Mahathir championed in the past.
"I am only offering ideas from the younger set of members on
how to effect change within the party. These ideas are out of the box.
"Don't belittle the views of the young and don't make such condescending
comments. What I am doing is no different from what he did in 1969 in pushing
for change."
Nur Jazlan noted that Dr Mahathir had no right to call deputy Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Najib Razak "incompetent" for following the advice of Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
"Need we remind him that he picked (Datuk Seri) Anwar (Ibrahim) as DPM against
the wishes of many in the party?
"What happened after that?" he asked, referring to Anwar's sacking from
government in 1998.
"Najib is just being loyal... maybe he (Dr Mahathir) had forgotten a lot of
things that he had done in the past."
Ali, meanwhile, refused to be drawn into the mud-slinging.
"No comment, no comment," was his reply when asked to respond to Dr Mahathir's
remarks.
However, Ali said it was up to the grassroots to evaluate his performance and
leadership capabilities.
He believed his experience, both in party politics and administrative matters,
placed him in a good position.
Muhammad also sidestepped Dr Mahathir's remarks, saying only that he will be
"the most loyal No 2 man for Najib" if elected.
"My relationship with Najib is excellent and this has been demonstrated at the
various by-elections where Najib and I led the Barisan Nasional charge."
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