DR Mahathir Mohamad has confirmed meeting with opposition leaders earlier this week but downplayed any political significance to the meeting, saying he meets everyone.

“The meeting happened but I meet everyone, not just the opposition, even civil societies,” the prime minister told reporters after an event in Putrajaya today.

“They came to see me, so I met them. I heard what they wanted to say. A lot of them expressed support for me. Thank you very much.”

Dr Mahathir also said PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang had earlier expressed his support for him to remain as the prime minister for a full term.

“As you know, Hadi says he supports me all the time. Nothing new,” he said.

He said this when asked to comment on a meeting involving him and leaders from PAS, Umno and Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) on Tuesday night.

The group allegedly told Dr Mahathir that they have his back and he should finish his term without handing over the mantle to Anwar Ibrahim midway, The Star reported quoting sources.

The report also said that a minister, who is also a Pakatan Harapan top gun, was also at the meeting after being called by Dr Mahathir.

When asked today if it was Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali who was at the meeting, the prime minister said: “This is a secret meeting, I cannot tell you.”

Last week, Hadi had publicly backed Dr Mahathir to continue being the prime minister for a full term.

The PAS president said the dominance of non-Muslim leaders in the ruling coalition made it necessary for Dr Mahathir to continue as prime minister.

Hadi said although Dr Mahathir is a leader of a minority party, the Bersatu chairman had said many things to defend Islam.

Azmin too had similarly called for Dr Mahathir to remain in power for a full term and not handover power midway.

Under a Pakatan Harapan agreement, Dr Mahathir is supposed to hand over power to PKR president Anwar, though no timeline has been officially fixed.

It was previously reported that the handover will take place after two years but more recently Dr Mahathir had said that he would step aside after seeing through the country’s rough patch, caused by Barisan Nasional’s misrule and mismanagement.

He had also repeatedly said that he would stick to his promise to give way for Anwar to take over. – August 1, 2019.