KUALA LUMPUR: Political analysts have questioned the rationale behind Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's criticism of Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as the deputy prime minister.
The former prime minister had earlier today argued that Zahid's appointment as DPM was questionable as the latter is currently facing corruption charges.
Analysts, however, noted that Dr Mahathir, during his time as prime minister in 2018, had appointed Lim Guan Eng as finance minister.
Lim, they said, had also been facing corruption charges then.
Political analyst Azmi Hassan said Dr Mahathir's criticism of Zahid was baffling as he had done the same.
"This (strategy) is overkill as he (Dr Mahathir) did the same during his tenure as prime minister by appointing Lim as finance minister.
"It can also be argued that Dr Mahathir, in appointing Lim, was doing to appease DAP which had won the most seats," he said, noting that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is also believed to have appointed Zahid to appease Barisan Nasional.
"His criticism doesn't appear to hold water," he told the New Straits Times,
Azmi was referring to Dr Mahathir's latest comment on the appointment of Zahid, who is facing court charges, as deputy prime minister.
In his latest Twitter post, Dr Mahathir cited Article 33A of the Federal Constitution, which allowed the Yang-Dipertuan Agong to cease holding the role if charged with an offence.
Dr Mahathir had compared that to Zahid, who is facing more than 40 court charges.
Lim who was the then DAP secretary-general, was facing corruption charges over the purchase of a bungalow below the market price in 2016.
The case was dropped in 2018 after Pakatan Harapan won the 14th General Election.
Azmi added that the argument by Dr Mahathir was also "a disservice to the opposition" as he had no moral high ground.
Meanwhile, Dr Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs believed that Dr Mahathir's continuous effort to discredit Anwar stems from a profound grudge against both Anwar and Zahid.
"This is because back in 1997-98, Zahid was Anwar's top political man.
"Anwar had unleashed Zahid as the first salvo against Dr Mahathir, by means of Zahid openly criticising Dr Mahathir over nepotism. After Anwar was deposed, however, Zahid defected to Dr Mahathir's winning side.
"Apparently Dr Mahathir does not forget easily," he said.
Facebook users also criticised Dr Mahathir for his criticism.
Facebook user Alfred Oh noted that Dr Mahathir had done the same in appointing Lim during his time as the prime minister despite the latter facing a corruption charge back then.
"He also chose Lim Guan Eng aka the world's best finance minister at the time when he was charged with corruption," he wrote.
Another Facebook user, Shahrizal Mustafa pointed the same thing and said: "He did the same when appointing Lim Guan Eng as the minister of finance."