By Clara Chooi (Malaysian Insider)
SERENDAH, April 22 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad called PKR candidate Datuk Zaid Ibrahim a “frog” tonight, saying Hulu Selangor voters should not trust anyone who might get drunk to represent them.
The former prime minister made a surprise appearance in Hulu Selangor tonight despite saying he would stay away and proceeded to campaign furiously for the Barisan Nasional (BN).
“Do not put your trust in this frog. What happens if he is drunk? Then how is he going to do his work?” he said, leaving the crowd that turned up in stitches.
Dr Mahathir was in top form tonight as he delivered blow after blow against Zaid and his Pakatan Rakyat (PR) comrades, saying that it was dangerous to trust “frogs” for one would never know where they would jump to next.
“He leapt into Umno and even made it to become a minister. Then he jumped into the PKR and then to Sabah and when he was promised a candidacy, he jumped back here.
“This frog truly has strong hind legs, I tell you. He is like superman, he can jump from here to the roof too,” he said of Zaid although the Kelantan-born politician was sacked from Umno in late 2008.
Dr Mahathir then continued hard on yet another attack used recently to discredit Zaid’s “Islamic-ness” by accusing the latter of telling an untruth when he said he did not indulge in racehorse gambling.
“He says he does not gamble but he merely owns racehorses.
“I have horses myself, I have about 30 horses of my own but this is different — this is a horse to ride, not to use in races,” he pointed out.
He accused Zaid of obtaining his riches during his tenure as a law minister and said that the former Umno man was like a “kacang lupakan kulit”.
“When he was with us, he was good with us, but now when he is not with us, he attacks us,” he said.
In his typical no-holds-barred style, Dr Mahathir then moved his criticism to his arch-enemy and former deputy in the government, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Dr Mahathir claimed that before joining Umno, Anwar had initially wanted to join the Islamist party PAS.
“But he realised that by joining PAS, he would not be able to get a ministerial post. So he joined Umno even though he did not like us,” he explained.
He also poked fun at Anwar and his “sexual preference”, which he said he was unable to accept.
“When he joined, it looks like a lot of things were happening… happening at ‘the back’.
“You want to bring me down in politics, it’s OK, but this, I cannot accept,” he said, referring to Anwar’s sodomy accusations.
He noted however that such “preference” could be accepted by the “orang putih” but not in Malaysia.
“To them (the foreigners), they like this type of things. Even their children are not spared.
“That’s why you see, they love Anwar Ibrahim… those Australian MPs who Anwar convinced to come here and protest against his sodomy trial, look at them — some even wore lipstick and earrings. No wonder they like Anwar,” he jibed.