THE Prime Minister’s Office has responded to the controversy over Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s absence from yesterday’s Merdeka celebrations in Putrajaya.
But calling it an explanation would be generous.
It is, at best, an exercise in official wordplay. At worst, it is an attempt to bury a politically awkward question beneath layers of administrative language.
The issue is remarkably simple. Was Mahathir invited or was he not?
If he was not invited, Malaysians have every right to ask why.
Mahathir is not some obscure former office-holder whose name has been forgotten by the country. He is a former prime minister who shaped Malaysia for decades. Whether one admires him or despises him is beside the point. His place in the nation’s political history is indisputable.
So when he is apparently absent from the guest list at the country’s biggest national celebration, pretending that this is merely a matter of routine protocol is hardly convincing.
The PMO should have had the courage to give a clear, unambiguous explanation.
Instead, what emerged was the sort of carefully sanitised statement one expects when an administration wants to appear transparent without actually revealing anything of consequence.
This is precisely how public confidence is eroded.
Governments do not earn credibility by issuing statements. They earn it by answering uncomfortable questions directly, especially when those questions involve decisions that can reasonably be perceived as politically motivated.
If Mahathir was excluded for a legitimate reason, say it.
If there is a protocol governing the invitation of former prime ministers, publish it and explain how it was applied.
If this was simply an administrative oversight, admit it.
But do not insult the public’s intelligence by offering a response that leaves the central question hanging in the air.
Merdeka celebrations are supposed to transcend partisan politics. They belong to the nation, not to the government of the day. That is precisely why the treatment of a former prime minister at such an occasion deserves more than a bland bureaucratic explanation.
The irony is difficult to miss. An occasion celebrating the nation’s independence should not become an exercise in official opacity.
The PMO had an opportunity to settle the matter with clarity.
Instead, it has managed to make the unanswered questions even louder.
If this is the government’s idea of transparency, Malaysians have every reason to ask what it is trying so hard not to explain.
-BTSMedia.my
