Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said that there may not be a need for a life imprisonment term but Malaysia must punish the corrupt.
The corrupt might be jailed, depending on the extent of the corruption; and different levels of corruption require different punishments, he said at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies in London on September 25, reports The Star.
The Malaysian premier made the remark in response to a query about whether he supports the death penalty for corrupt leaders, after his speech on “The Challenge of Good Governance in the Muslim World”.
He said that it is difficult to have a democratic system if one does not understand that the vote is a powerful tool in democracy, adding that some Muslim countries are comfortable with a monarchy.
In some Muslim countries, the transition to a democratic system has been disastrous, he said.
He, however, also opined that in some Muslim countries, people could not wait for their term to end and want to change leaders immediately after the election.
The Malaysian premier said people in his country are not proponents of violence, and that they do not overthrow governments.
“The government changes by itself,” he said, drawing laughter from the floor.
Previously, in 1996, on his maiden visit to the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, Dr Mahathir delivered the memorable lecture entitled “Islam, the Misunderstood Religion”.
The centre, since its founding in 1985, has invited many leading figures to speak on matters related to the Islamic world.
