Dr Mahathir Mohamad will not reject requests from supporters asking him to run for the 15th general election (GE15), even though he is not keen to do so, the 96-year-old former prime minister said.
According to Dr Mahathir, a lot of his supporters want him to contest the next general election, but he is reluctant.
“If they feel that my participation would enhance the possibility of the party (Pejuang) winning, then I cannot reject their requests.
“Well, as a last resort, yes,” said Dr Mahathir, who was speaking to Vice News.
Touching on the issues related to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, Dr Mahathir said they need to come to terms with the fact that Malaysia’s society was “different” from the West.
He said young women and even teenagers in Western countries were sleeping around, with their parents accepting such behaviour.
He admitted to not being able to fully represent the youth in this generation but believed his party Pejuang can accommodate them on common grounds such as on the topic of climate change.
“We will not be able to represent them completely, but there are things that they care about that we can accommodate.
“For example, the environment, climate change, all these things are of interest to the young people, and we have the same views,” he said.
Stating his confidence in democracy as the best political system, Dr Mahathir said “enemies” have accused him of being a dictator to reduce his political standing.
“When people accuse me of being a dictator, what’s the evidence? Why was I accused of being bad?
“Democracy is not perfect, there are many weaknesses and loopholes. In the hands of good people, democracy will deliver.
“In the hands of bad people, the powers (and) the authority given to an elected leader can be abused and we have seen this happen in Malaysia,” he said, referring to Najib Razak, adding that Najib was “allowed to do anything he liked” when he was in power.
“There are different standards, apparently,” Dr Mahathir said, adding that events had shown that there is no equality in the treatment of people of different status.
He also said that the satisfactory legacy during his term as prime minister was for Malaysia to be classed as an “Asian Tiger”.
“I feel that I have done something for Malaysia,” Dr Mahathir said. – TMI