Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad took his attack against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to the seat of power, the ruling party, on Saturday - and found plenty of support for his criticisms.
Members of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), which dominates government and can make or break prime ministers, gave Mahathir a hero's welcome as he arrived to speak at a divisional party meeting at a golf club outside Kuala Lumpur.
More than 100 of the party faithful chanted "Hidup Mahathir" (Long live Mahathir) in Malay as the 80-year-old arrived for the meeting behind the wheel of a Porsche Cayenne sports utility with his driver in the passenger seat.
"For two years I've been quiet," Mahathir told the UMNO division, which had gone ahead and invited him to speak despite veiled warnings by the party's leadership not to do so.
"Now let me speak, a small chance to be heard. If you don't want to listen, you can always close your ears," he added before going on to recite his various criticisms of the government.
Mahathir, who stepped down after 22 years of power in late 2003, feels betrayed by his hand-chosen successor, Abdullah, because the latter has shelved several major projects that Mahathir had hoped would continue into his retirement.
Mahathir has accused the government of lacking "guts" and of selling out Malaysian sovereignty over a recent decision to scrap Mahathir's plan to build a bridge to neighbouring Singapore.
It was clear that many of the party rank-and-file who turned up to hear Mahathir were also not happy with the government. "I don't believe in him anymore," said elderly UMNO party member Noor Azmi, brandishing a photo of him with Abdullah. He said he was a distant uncle of the premier.
"Not only me, but the majority of the rakyat (common people) too. UMNO is more than just blood. It's about Islam, the Malay race and the country." Mahathir's decision to take his criticisms into the heart of UMNO threatens to sow dissent and division within the ruling party at a time when Abdullah is widely expected to be gearing up for an early election, perhaps in the second half of next year.
There are no moves inside the party to dethrone Abdullah, but any grass-roots support for Mahathir's criticisms could pressure the prime minister to alter the course of fiscal policy and return to the Mahathir era of major state projects.
"In my time, I never stopped anyone from talking," Mahathir, an UMNO member since 1946, told the crowd of about 500 people, referring to pressure put on his hosts not to invite him.
"This is very undemocratic. Not in the tradition of UMNO." Another UMNO member said the party should listen to Mahathir. "Abdullah's answers are not adequate at all. He is answering to the former prime minister, former president of UMNO, and most importantly, to the people of Malaysia, who are now well educated and more exposed than 20 years ago," said Azrin Zain.
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