SERDANG: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today attempts by certain parties to make the Rulers unhappy with the current government will not succeed because the government is elected by the people through the democratic process.
“There have been a lot of attempts now to make the Rulers unhappy with the government. They single out the Rome Statute and things like that … but it is not going to succeed, it will fail. They can try their luck.
“They will fail because this government is elected by the people. This is a democracy and you just can’t get rid of the government.
“Unless you want to drop democracy and become a kleptocracy or you can become an autocracy,” said Dr Mahathir when asked on concerns over the existence of a pernicious “deep state” or “state within a state” that would affect Putrajaya.
Dr Mahathir was met by reporters after he had launched the Malaysian Autoshow 2019, organised by the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii). The largest annual auto show in ASEAN will be on from today to April 14 at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) here.
Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah was reported recently as saying that the Cabinet’s reversal of its decision to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was a “political” move done for fear of a coup d’etat attempt spurred on by powers behind the scenes.
The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court.
Saifuddin said history had shown that a coup d’etat is a common reaction to democratic advancement and the public rising up following an election, and it is usually instigated by the “deep state”.
It is said that the “deep state”, also known as a “state within a state”, refers to a form of secret government or network that operates independently of a country’s political leadership for its own personal agenda. – Bernama
