07-04-2023, 12:01 PM
“Hussein Onn has regretted making Tun M deputy UMNO president in 1976”
![[Image: 14nt04maki_1563067287.jpg]](https://assets.nst.com.my/images/articles/14nt04maki_1563067287.jpg)
MALAYSIA’S third prime minister (PM) Tun Hussein Onn told me after his retirement in the 1980s that his biggest mistake in life was making Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad the UMNO deputy president in 1976 for this allowed the latter to twice become the country’s PM which spans close to a quarter of a century.
That choosing Dr Mahathir as UMNO deputy president in 1976 after six weeks of indecision – by-passing Tun Ghafar Baba, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Tun Ghazali Shafie – was Hussein Onn’s biggest mistake was again highlighted yesterday (July 3) when Dr Mahathir alleged that promoting a multi-racial Malaysia runs afoul of the Federal Constitution and that DAP was a danger to the Malays and Islam.
Dr Mahathir alleged that it is against the Federal constitution to promote a multi-racial nation and that DAP is holding Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to ransom by wanting to replace Islam as the official religion with a secular state or country with no official religion.
That choosing Dr Mahathir as UMNO deputy president in 1976 after six weeks of indecision – by-passing Tun Ghafar Baba, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Tun Ghazali Shafie – was Hussein Onn’s biggest mistake was again highlighted yesterday (July 3) when Dr Mahathir alleged that promoting a multi-racial Malaysia runs afoul of the Federal Constitution and that DAP was a danger to the Malays and Islam.
Dr Mahathir alleged that it is against the Federal constitution to promote a multi-racial nation and that DAP is holding Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to ransom by wanting to replace Islam as the official religion with a secular state or country with no official religion.
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