Is Mahathir Presiding Over A Government Within The Government?

As surprising and ridiculous as that may sound, this is exactly what HarakahDaily.Net seems to imply when quoting an unnamed lecturer, who said, "Kalaupun bukan pada peringkat kabinet, tetapi para penentangnya sudah pasti berada di pelbagai peringkat dalam kerajaan dan mereka nampaknya sedang berusaha keras."

The implications are very serious. It leads to several assumptions, primarily that a significant portion of public servants still owe their allegiance to Mahathir and not the government of the day in direct contravention of every civil service order, rule, regulation, practice and tradition.

Off and on there have been rumours and 'small talk' that one overhears in a restaurant or public place that Mahathir has great support within the civil service, including the police force,(especially following the IPCMC debacle) but I'm sure that no one took it seriously, unless I suppose if one is 'in the know,' unlike us ordinary mortals who have to decide on our own whether to give any credence to such hearsay.

Another longstanding rumour that is beginning to make its rounds again is Mahathir's supposed penchant to keep 'notes' over the years he was in power, painstakingly recording 'everything' about 'everyone' and while others never bothered to maintain any such 'record,' our ex-Pm ala J. Edgar Hoover of FBI fame, is now making use of these notes to his advantage. There is one school of thought which suggests that this is the same method employed by Singapore's Harry Lee Kuan Yew to keep his iron-grip over things in that republic. (Dictatorial birds of a feather?)

Whether all the above is pure imagination or nonsense is anyone's guess. The notion of an alternate or parallel government should be anathema to anyone who professes and believes in a true democracy. Does Harakah? Read their full article in Bahasa Malaysia: Dr Mahathir gambarkan banyak penentang Abdullah di dalam kerajaan