DR MAHATHIR Mohamad is not the one who decides how long he should remain as Prime Minister.

The agreement still remains that he would have to hand over the baton to prime minister-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim two years from May 9, 2018.

The onus is on Anwar to try to fulfil Pakatan Harapan’s manifesto and to meet people’s aspirations for a new Malaysia.

The people have fought hard together with Anwar and his partners in DAP and PAS (later Amanah) for the past 20 years.

Although we welcome Dr Mahathir’s readiness to depose Najib Razak using PH as the vehicle, the office of the prime minister he took on was conditional.

The agreement made, that Anwar should take over as prime minister, was between the PH leadership and the rakyat.

If the rakyat, especially those who have fought together with Anwar during the Reformasi period, were willing to accept him, Dr Mahathir should therefore honour his word and remain a statesman instead of leaving behind an unflattering legacy as Malaysia’s seventh prime minister.

In the previous general election, the majority of Malaysians voted for a new government because they could not tolerate Najib’s kleptocratic administration anymore.

Dr Mahathir should know this well enough. It was not he who held the magic wand, and even he knows that he had to use the PKR logo to campaign in his own constituency.

It was strictly a win by the PH coalition. Therefore, when it is time to go Dr Mahathir should hand over the baton graciously, instead of being told to leave by the rakyat.

* Ronnie Liu is the DAP assemblyman for Sungai Pelek.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.