Mahathir appears to have walked back his claim that he would not be contesting the 15th general election (GE15).
Less than two weeks after telling Kyodo News that he would not be contesting in the 15th general election, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has told Singapore’s Straits Times (ST) that he is now likely to contest.
In an interview on Friday (Oct 2), the Langkawi MP said that his proposal not to stand “has caused a lot of unhappiness among my supporters”.
“They still want me to say that I want to contest. It is true that most people at 95 would not be functional.
“I am more fortunate; I am still able to be active. But they don’t seem to think I will deteriorate when I grow older.
“They see me as I am now. So, they want me, at least, not to say that I won’t contest,” he said.
Mahathir’s earlier stand had been that he would continue to fight corruption through his new vehicle Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) but that he would not be contesting in the next election as he could be as old as 98 should it be called in 2023.
His comments, however, appeared to leave open the possibility that he may choose to do otherwise if a snap general election were to be called earlier.
Based on the vote for the new speaker of Parliament on July 13, it is estimated that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has a 111-109 advantage in Parliament, a majority of just two seats.
Furthermore, opposition leader and PKR president Anwar Ibrahim had claimed that he has the support of the majority of MPs, but he has to prove this claim, which he said he would do so in an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
On working with Muhyiddin, Mahathir said he cannot reconcile with him because the prime minister is engaged in the same politics that both of them had sought to reform when they defeated the Najib-led government in the last general election.
“How can I accept Muhyiddin like that?” he said, adding that the PPBM president was willing to work with Najib because “politics is more important than principles”.
However, ST said he conceded that he and the other opposition parties are not in a position to challenge Muhyiddin’s parliamentary majority as they are split on who should take over as prime minister.
“Anwar (Ibrahim) has a lot of people who are against him. If I am not accepted, many (of my supporters) will pull out so he will not have the majority. Now he claims he has the support of 20 to 30 MPs, but everybody has denied it,” he said.
Mahathir also said he does not favour a snap election, as he does not think either side would be able to secure a stronger mandate from it.
This is because the public is not ready to vote on substantive issues following the political turmoil of recent months, he said, and would make their choice “not because the party is good” but based on historical sentiment.
“The same people will be elected, and you will find that there will be a hung Parliament or a very small majority,” he said.
“Like now, if three persons have stomach ache and didn’t attend Parliament, they will fall. What kind of government is that?”