No party should rule forever, Dr Mahathir tells international Muslim delegates

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says Muslim countries have so many problems because even with democracy, the failure to practise the teachings of Islam brings about their downfall. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, November 27, 2015.No party should rule forever, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today, adding that the opposition played an important role to ensure the government of the day did not abuse its power.

In his keynote address at the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2015, Malaysia's longest serving prime minister said it was good for a country to have just two political parties, adding that otherwise, the people would be divided and no party would enjoy a majority.

"When forming a coalition, the bigger the better.

"This is because when one party pulls out, a big coalition would still have a majority and survive.

"The opposition plays a very important role but if it is too small, it will not be effective to ensure the government does not abuse its power.

"No party should rule forever," he told an audience of international Muslim delegates at the event which was held in a hotel in Kuala Lumpur today.

Qualifying that he was speaking in the context of Muslim countries all over the world, Dr Mahathir added that many Muslim governments failed to give their country and people stability and prosperity.

Instead, he said Muslims have become associated with terror.

"All these are due to our failure to practise the teachings of Islam, where Islam promotes brotherhood, but we fight each other instead.

"Even if we adopt democratic governance, failure to adhere to the teachings of Islam can make us fail.

"This is because democracy does not work and succeed by itself," he added.

Dr Mahathir also said that in a democracy, give and take was crucial, as it was important to sacrifice something so that others could also enjoy the fruits of democracy.

"If we demand that 100% of our rights must be met, then others will not get what they are entitled to, and if they do not get what they are entitled to, then there will be conflicts and democracy will fail," he added.

He also said that Muslims who wished to adopt the democratic system must learn to accept the results of elections.

- TMI