Interim prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had refused to continue to fulfil Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) pledges despite being urged on by DAP, its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng revealed today.
“Dr Mahathir refused to remain as PH prime minister and refused to commit to fulfil and deliver PH’s general election manifesto,” the DAP secretary-general said in a statement today.
The Bagan MP said Dr Mahathir told him so during a private meeting on Tuesday at the Prime Minister’s Office.
Lim added today that PH had won the mandate from the people in 2018 general election based on their manifesto pledges despite consisting of four parties, including PKR, Amanah, DAP and Bersatu.
He said differences of opinion are not uncommon, but all parties had agreed to adhere to the pledges.
“The four parties may have different ideology and aspirations, but we make common ground and are bound by the general election manifesto agreed to by all,” said Lim.
Yesterday, PH announced that it has nominated Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as its prime minister candidate, despite DAP and Amanah previously saying it will continue to support Dr Mahathir in the role.
Afterwards, DAP lawmakers said PH decided against a non-partisan “Mahathir government” as this would not be beholden to any party or coalition, effectively giving Dr Mahathir free rein to do as he wanted.
The DAP statement said Dr Mahathir would not have to consult any party or coalition in filling his Cabinet, for instance, and could appoint PAS and Umno leaders as his ministers if he desired.
Lim said over the past 21 months, the election pledges had been implemented in stages, including:
- Reducing North-South Highway toll charges by 18 percent and eliminating further increase in toll charges.
- Initiating the MySalam insurance scheme which paid between RM4,000 and RM8,000 for those suffering from 45 critical illnesses.
- Abolishing GST.
- Saving over RM50 billion by renegotiating projects approved by the previous administration.
- Initiating an e-wallet scheme.
- Creating 350,000 jobs through the RM6.5 billion Malaysian@Work programme.
It should be noted that Lim only listed achievements by the Finance Ministry, which he used to head.
Lim’s final job as finance minister was preparing the economic stimulus plan, which Mahathir is expected to announce today.