Kuala Lumpur — On Friday (June 12), in a short but heavily sarcastic blog post, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad proposed the launching of a new political party called Parti AAD or Parti Apa Aku Dapat, which translates to “What I Can Get Party”.

This party, he wrote, would be formed with the specific purpose of enriching Malays who had not yet been appointed to high positions and given financial rewards.

Dr Mahathir wrote that he proposed forming a new party since many Malays seemed to enjoy launching political parties. He added that his own party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), had split into two.

Therefore, he said, a new political party was in order, Parti Apa Aku Dapat. Parti AAD would not require any membership fees. Malays who had not yet benefited from political patronage could apply to be officers of the party, including president, deputy president and vice-president, he wrote.

A few hours later, former Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was unseated by Dr Mahathir in the elections of May 2018, wrote a Facebook post mocking Dr Mahathir. He said that he had heard a new political party was being formed and asked whether it would be called “Anak-Anak Daddy”, which is a play on the AAD initials of the party Dr Mahathir mentioned. 

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“Anak-anak Daddy” translates to “Daddy’s children”.

https://www.facebook.com/najibrazak/posts/10157116911510952

Najib wrote: “Good morning, Malaysia. Heard that a new political party named party  Anak-anak Daddy will be formed? Is this news authentic? Just asking.”

Najib appeared to be referring to Mr Mukhriz Mahathir, who was recently Mentri Besar of Kedah, and is seen as a potential successor to his father. Mr Mukhriz has blamed Najib for his ouster as Mentri Besar.

In a press conference in May, he said: “The protagonist is still the same as before and it is Najib. The purpose is simple and it is for him to be freed from all the breach of trust allegations levelled against him concerning 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad), SRC International and other mega-scandals that have tainted Malaysia’s image in the eyes of the world.”

Two days before his blog post, Dr Mahathir had written a post critical of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. It started with the line: “I have to call this Muhyiddin’s Government the Kingdom of Muhyiddin.”

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He wrote that several members of the current Prime Minister’s Cabinet had been appointed on the premise that they would support Mr Muhyiddin. He implied that the members had asked for what they wanted before they joined the Cabinet, and also that certain positions had even been expressly created for them. /TISG

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