Mahakutti defends son’s stake in brewing alcohol controversy

By Clara Chooi

SERENDAH, April 23 — With Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s drinking past a brewing issue in the Hulu Selangor campaign, his nemesis Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad quickly moved to defend his son’s directorship in a beer brewery.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have also been quick to defend their Hulu Selangor candidate, pointing out that Dr Mahathir’s eldest son Mirzan sits on the board of San Miguel Corp, a Philipines-based conglomerate that owns 51 per cent of the San Miguel beer brewery.

“We know about the present lies being spread. Supposedly my son is a director in a beer company. That is not true,” the former prime minister said in a surprise visit to the Barisan Nasional campaign here.

Dr Mahakutti (2nd left) shaking the hands of Kam-mylan, the BN candidate for Hulu Selangor. - Picture by Choo Choy May

He explained that his eldest son, Mirzan, had merely been invited to the board for his ability to aid with the company’s bid to diversify its business from its primary beer brewery.

“Not true. The company wants to change its business. I was told they want to sell their alcohol division to someone else,” Dr Mahathir said.

He noted that if this was not true, he would tell his son not to remain in the board.

In a press conference later, Dr Mahathir continued to say that Mirzan had been chosen due to his ability to help the company diversify.

“In any case, he is not even a politician. I do not check on all my children... they do what it is that they want to do,” he said.

He pointed out that his son’s involvement in the beer business was dubious but Zaid’s drinking past was not.

“My son’s story is not true but that story about Zaid’s drinking before... that one is true... but it was ‘before’ or so he says,” he said.

The issue of drinking has been the hot topic used recently by parties on both sides of the political divide during the campaign period for the coming by-election this Sunday.

In the first attack, Zaid was accused of being an alcoholic, gambler and even a womaniser and criticised as an “un-Islamic” person.

The accusations levelled against the former Umno man were used in hopes of swaying the Malay support away from Zaid and for BN candidate P. Kamalanathan in this Sunday’s polling.

Zaid’s camp in the meantime, has accused Umno ministers of being no different, claiming that they too loved their alcohol.

PAS secretary-general Datuk Mustafa Ali had even said that all past prime ministers in Malaysia had consumed alcohol except for Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Dr Mahathir scoffed at the claims but did not dispel its truth and said that “maybe” it was true but it was “in the past”.

“Last time, we all wanted to be like the white man. That’s why we say about our former leaders drinking.

“I am not saying that I drank but then of course people will make all kinds of allegations. If they do not have anything of substance other than that to win the support of the people, then they can raise whatever they like,” he added.

When questioned if he felt that by drinking, a leader would lose his ability to lead the nation, the veteran politician said: “It is for the people to judge whether a Prime Minister can lead the nation or not. In my time, I led for 22 years.”