MANY lives were put in jeopardy due to the greed of certain quarters for power, Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today in describing September’s Sabah election.

“There are some who want to have a GE (general election). Remember, how many will have to die just because the Perikatan Nasional government wanted to topple the Sabah government.

“Yes, Sabah was successfully seized. But the cost was very high. Many lives were sacrificed due to the greed of power,” the Langkawi MP told the Dewan Rakyat today while debating Budget 2021.

Malaysia saw a drastic spike in deadly Covid-19 cases following the Sabah elections that saw PN wrest power from the previous Warisan-led state government.

He said the government is so busy defending its weak position that attention has been diverted from containing the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The result of a power struggle is the wastage of  money and time,” he said, referring to the Sabah polls.

Dr Mahathir said he is not confident that Perikatan Nasional will be able to contain the pandemic successfully.

He said if Budget 2021 does not command majority support to be passed, the prime minister will lose his majority and may have to resign, which will lead to another political crisis. – November 12, 2020.