DR MAHATHIR Mohamad is not a dictator, said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, rebuking remarks made by former PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar in her interview with Singapore’s Straits Times.

Nurul, the Permatang Pauh MP, called Dr Mahathir a former dictator who caused much damage to her family and the nation.

Hadi however said Dr Mahathir was only carrying out his duties firmly, especially when it came to getting his weaker cabinet colleagues to perform their duties.

“I want to comment on (Nurul’s) remarks about Dr Mahathir being a dictator. He is not a dictator. He is just firm. He was elected in a democratic manner in the elections. Pakatan Harapan picked him as the PM.

“He didn’t pick himself as the prime minister. What is important is his firmness… being firm in handling a weak cabinet,” he told reporters in Parliament lobby today.

The Maran MP added that Dr Mahathir had to be firm as a leader.

In her interview, Nurul also said she was “heartbroken” by the PH government’s slow delivery of its promised reforms.

Responding to that yesterday, Dr Mahathir said he, too, was disappointed with others, just as how they felt about him over the slow implementation of reforms by the new government.

“It’s okay that many people are disappointed. I am also disappointed with them,” he had said after meeting civil servants at Wisma Darul Aman in Kedah.

PAS had previously said that it would back Dr Mahathir if a confidence motion was tabled in Parliament. – March 26, 2019.