Malaysia's Mahathir sounds off with his own blog

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Former Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad, a harsh critic of Internet websites and commentary during his 22-year tenure, launched his own blog on Thursday, firing a new salvo of criticism at his successor.

Mahathir, who urged Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down after the country's ruling coalition suffered the worst electoral disaster in its history at polls in March, had increasingly turned to the Internet to air his critical views of Abdullah, saying he was being ignored by the mainstream media.

The opposition won an unprecedented five states at the elections, denying the government a two-thirds majority in parliament that had allowed it to change laws at will.

The outcome dramatically highlighted the influence of the Internet, where growing numbers of young Malaysians are attracted to the vibrant websites of opposition politicians, who are denied access to government-controlled media.

In his first blog post, Mahathir questioned a plan by Abdullah for a panel to nominate judges, an area in which the constitution currently leaves the prime minister wide sway.

The government was now too weak to change the constitution on its own, Mahathir said.

"Is the government proposing to work with the opposition on this issue, and so display its weakness? Will there be a quid pro quo, a bargain with the opposition? It would be interesting to see how the PM proposes to deal with this."

The tone of most comments left by the 287 visitors to Mahathir's blog (www.chedet.com) was respectful or welcoming, but some criticized his views.

"What is wrong with working with the opposition if that means we bring justice to this nation?" asked one anonymous contributor. "On the contrary, please admit that you were the main cause of destroying the judiciary."