THE separation of powers is the key to maintaining checks and balance in the government, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his maiden speech to civil servants working under the Prime Minister’s Department in Putrajaya this morning.

“There has to be a separation of powers between the three – the legislature, the executive and the judiciary – and if there are no checks and balance, when wrongdoings are committed, no one can speak out or stop them,” said Dr Mahathir.

He said the failure to have separation of powers will also allow one party to have control of all powers, and if that happened, one has little chance of challenging instructions that went against the law.

“The governing body should not do anything that goes against the law, even in this current government. Only with the separation of powers, can the country be governed better.”

He was addressing some 1,000 civil servants.

Earlier, Dr Mahathir told the PMO staff that the country’s debt has reached RM1 trillion, more than triple the RM300 million recorded during his tenure as the fourth prime minister.

Dr Mahathir arrived sharp at 8.30am along with his wife, Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali.

In the middle of his speech, the 92-year-old stumbled with words and later cracked a joke, telling the civil servants it was because he has not been speaking like this for a long time.

“I have not been speaking like this for a long time, so I forgot,” he told the crowd, who laughed.

There are 100 agencies under the Prime Minister’s Office with more than 10,000 employees. – May 21, 2018.