NUR JAZLAN: DR M HAS NO RIGHT TO CALL US JOKERS - Malaysiakini

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." -- NST online