Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said that he will not work with Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin again.
In an interview with Malaysiakini, he said much work lies ahead of Pakatan Harapan (PH) should it be able to retake the government, since it has to undo the damage caused by both former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Muhyiddin’s administration as well.
“Muhyiddin is worse. We (the Pakatan government) swapped politicians (in boardrooms) with professionals and people who are good in business,” Dr Mahathir said in a video conference from his office in Putrajaya.
He claimed that Muhyiddin has since reverted to the old ways as seen under Umno, where corruption and theft is once again prevalent.
Dr Mahathir added that a new Pakatan government, which he dubbed as “Harapan Plus” will also look into political meddling within government affairs and the criminal justice system, citing several recent high-profile cases that have been dropped.
This needs to be reviewed. If we find that there is political influence in government affairs, we must reduce the influence. The government must be run according to rules and regulations,” he said.
But should the effort to regain power end in failure, the 94-year old said he has no choice but to function as an Opposition MP, since he flat out refuses to work with Muhyiddin.
“We would have to wait for the next election, where the people would decide. They would be induced because ‘cash is king’. That slogan is now back.
“But I am confident the people will reject such practices, just like during the 2018 election. They rejected ‘cash is king’. I am also confident that during the next election, no matter how much money is used to garner support for Muhyiddin, Umno and PAS, the people would not support them,” Dr Mahathir said.
Dr Mahathir also said he is looking at a half-year tenure as prime minister should PH regain power, adding that he intends to fulfil his promise and hand over power to PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“When the time comes, I will keep my word. You can check my conduct when I was prime minister and even before that. I have never reneged on my promise,” he said.
Despite scepticism among PKR members of Dr Mahathir keeping his promise, he said he has always kept his end of the bargain, citing his first retirement at the end of 2002 after over two decades as prime minister.
“At the time, Lim Kit Siang said it would be impossible for me to resign, and that all of this is sandiwara (theatrics).
“As we now know, when the time came, I resigned. I never reneged on my promises. Show me when I did not keep my word,” Dr Mahathir said.
He said he will still adhere to the original plan of stepping down after the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit slated for this November in Kuala Lumpur, which he promised several months before the Pakatan government collapsed in February.
“It might be cancelled due to Covid-19 but after Apec, which is at the end of the year, I would step down.
“I am confident I can show the way to my successor on how to achieve the things which need to be done as prime minister,” Dr Mahathir said.
However, he also said that the prime minister candidate is secondary when compared to winning the Parliamentary majority.
He was commenting on Parti Warisan Sabah’s stance that he should be the candidate for prime minister since it is crucial to indicate to voters that a “Malay party” is part of “Harapan Plus”.
“If Harapan is seen as a multiracial outfit, I don’t think the Malay MPs would support us. Without their support, there is no need to talk about anyone being prime minister or becoming anything,” Dr Mahathir said.
He added that without the support from Malay MPs, it would be impossible to form a government and therefore choosing a prime minister at this point would be meaningless.