PM for third time ‘a bit much’ but I’d like to help Anwar, says Dr M
(FMT) – Dr Mahathir Mohamad says he has no desire to return for a third stint as prime minister although he would like to help PKR president Anwar Ibrahim attain a majority in the Dewan Rakyat.
Speaking in an interview with news portal Asia Times, he said this was the main issue behind the dispute over Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) prime minister candidate, not any distrust against his former deputy.
He said the PKR president was no longer as popular as he used to be, and that PH would fail in its bid to stage a comeback if Anwar was its candidate for the top post.
“A lot of people feel that for a time, at least, I should come back. I have no wish to come back,” he said. “I mean, coming back three times is a bit too much.
“(Anwar) has certain support, I agree with that. But there are certain people who are so strongly against him that, if he is named, they will not give their support.”
Adding that PH requires “quite a number of supporters from the government party” in order to obtain a majority, he said he feared the coalition might not gather the support it needs if things depend on Anwar alone.
“I would like to help him.”
Mahathir, who was prime minister from 1981 to 2003 and 2018 to February this year, said his successor Muhyiddin Yassin had become “quite a dictator” since taking the top post.
He accused him of appointing and dismissing people without referring to the law, citing his sacking from PPBM along with four other MPs.
He also alleged that Muhyiddin’s administration had made numerous political appointments to government-linked agencies in order to eliminate any opposition.
If PH succeeded in taking back Putrajaya, he said, it would have to review these appointments which he claimed had reversed the coalition’s work in appointing professionals to these posts.
When asked how a snap election would turn out if one were to be held next week, Mahathir said Muhyiddin would likely lose to Umno and former prime minister Najib Razak, adding however that this would depend on the outcome of Najib’s court cases.
He said Muhyiddin was in a dilemma regarding Najib as he needed the former prime minister’s support in order to keep Perikatan Nasional in Putrajaya but also risked having his leadership undermined.
