• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • RSS
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
The Nut Graph

The Nut Graph

Making Sense of Politics & Pop Culture

  • Projects
    • MP Watch
    • Found in Conversation
  • Current Issues
    • 6 Words
    • Commentary
    • Features
    • Found in Quotation
    • News
  • Columns
  • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Found in Malaysia
  • Multimedia
    • Audio
    • Pictures
    • Videos
  • Corrections
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Vault
    • Found in Translation

Dr M: Opposition necessary

June 9, 2009

SHAH ALAM, 9 June 2009: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the opposition was necessary as a reflection of the government.

“It’s not healthy to have a one-party state. We need to have the opposition. Otherwise, we won’t have a ‘mirror’ to see whether we look good or not,” he said at a news conference today.

He was asked to comment on the proposal by PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang at the party’s 55th general assembly last week on the setting up of a unity government.

Dr Mahathir said the proposed unity government was unclear, whether it was to be between PAS and Umno or between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat.

“If unity is just among Malay [Malaysians], Chinese [Malaysians] with Chinese [Malaysians], and Indian [Malaysians] with Indian [Malaysians], we’ll be divided into three groups. I don’t know…but it’s not my problem, I’m already retired.

“In those days when we formed BN, we invited all parties to join except DAP. PAS also joined BN but later split from the coalition as it used its power in government to strengthen the party and not BN,” he said.

Asked how a unity government could benefit the country, Dr Mahathir said it would only bring good if both sides were sincere about doing it in the nation’s interest.

“But it’s sometimes difficult for politicians to be sincere. I’m also a politician, you know,” he said, smiling.

Earlier, Dr Mahathir launched a pilot plant of Green Base Utama Sdn Bhd in Section 28 here which turned discarded plastic items into biofuel.

He said the technology used by the company appeared to be able to solve the problem of plastic waste dumping although it was still a pilot project.

Green Base Utama chairperson Tan Sri Abdul Halil Abdul Mutalib said the pilot plant could produce 5,000 litres of biofuel daily, with the fuel containing almost no sulphur, hence making it cleaner.

“So far, we have received orders from Sarawak Fertiliser Sdn Bhd which is willing to pay the price offered,” he said.

Abdul Halil said interested parties including investors and the local authorities were welcome to cooperate with the company in the venture or buy its fuel.

He said the company’s biofuel was being sold at RM1.40 to RM1.50 per litre, which was lower than the market price of RM1.80 per litre. — Bernama

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Abdul Halil Abdul Mutalib, Barisan Nasional, biofuel, dap, Green Base Utama Sdn Bhd, Hadi Awang, Mahathir Mohamad, opposition, Pakatan Rakyat, pas, plastic, Umno, unity government

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Hong says

    June 9, 2009 at 7:29 pm

    This is rich. Mahathir, autocrat extraordinaire, coming out in support of the adversarial model after spending his entire political career suppressing the opposition. Reminds me of the proposal made about 10 years ago to split PAP into two so that Singapore would have a credible opposition.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Recent Comments

  • Wave33 on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Adam on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • PSTan on The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Andre Lai on The Nut Graph stops publication

Recent News

  • The Nut Graph stops publication
  • Nasihat tentang sepupu yang mengganggu perasaan
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: The Sunni-Shia split and the answer to Muslim unity
  • Why Malaysia needs the national unity bills
  • Challenging government in the digital age: Lessons from Kidex
  • Najib’s failure
  • Babi, anjing, pondan: Jijik orang Islam Malaysia
  • Kidex and the law – What the government’s not telling you
  • Beyond Dyana Sofya
  • Uncommon Sense with Wong Chin Huat: Does Malaysia need hate speech laws?

Tags

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Anwar Ibrahim Barisan Nasional BN Bukit Selambau by-election dap Deborah Loh Ding Jo-Ann Election Commission elections Found in Malaysia Found in Quotation Gan Pei Ling government high court Hishammuddin Hussein ISA islam Jacqueline Ann Surin Khairy Jamaluddin KW Mak Lim Guan Eng Malaysia MCA Menteri Besar MP Watch Muhyiddin Yassin muslim Najib Razak Pakatan Rakyat Parliament Parti Keadilan Rakyat pas Penang Perak PKR police politics prime minister Selangor Shanon Shah Umno Wong Chin Huat Zedeck Siew

Footer

  • About The Nut Graph
  • Who Are We?
  • Our Contributors
  • Past Contributors
  • Guest Contributors
  • Editorial Policy
  • Comments & Columns
  • Copyright Policy
  • Web Accessibility Policy
  • Privacy Policy
The Nut Graph

© 2025 The Nut Graph