DR Mahathir Mohamad may not be keen to contest in the 15th general election but that does not mean he is retiring from politics anytime soon.

The former prime minister told The Malaysian Insight there is still a lot of work to be done.

“I don’t know anything about retirement. People are still coming to see me and seeking my advice.

“They ask for my assistance and if I can help them, I do it.

“As you can see, I can still think, talk and do things,” he told The Malaysian Insight in a recent interview at the Perdana Leadership Foundation.

This is not the first time Dr Mahathir has spoken about his reluctance to contest in GE15.

He said the same in March during a live interview on Facebook where he claimed he was not keen on being involved in another election campaign.

The 96-year-old Langkawi MP told The Malaysian Insight if he had a choice he would not contest, but if the people wanted him, he would give it another tilt.

“I don’t know yet (contest). If I’m healthy enough. If the people want me. If I have to, then I have to.

“But, given a choice, I don’t want to contest anymore.”

Dr Mahathir came back from retirement in 2017 to lead Pakatan Harapan to victory in the 2018 general election and was appointed prime minister for the second time.

However, in February last year after the “Sheraton move”, Dr Mahathir, who was then chairman of Bersatu, shocked everyone by resigning over a disagreement on cooperating with Umno. This led to the fall of the PH government.

Bersatu also split, which saw a group of supporters losing their party memberships for supporting PH.

Dr Mahathir and his supporters then went on to form Pejuang, a party he said was formed to fight corruption and uplift Malay rights while Muhyiddin Yassin was made prime minister in Perikatan Nasional, the current ruling pact.

Despite his position on not wanting to contest in GE15, Dr Mahathir said he will not be retiring anytime soon.  

He also reiterated that GE15 should be postponed to 2023 even though the emergency will end on August 1.

“I think if we want to hold an election when there is Covid-19, we will see a spike (of infections).  

“That is why (even) after the end of the emergency, no election should be held,” he said.

The emergency was declared by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong from January 11 till August 1 to curb the coronavirus outbreak.

Under the emergency, there can be no parliamentary sitting or election, although a month later the king gave his consent for Parliament to convene.

Parliament is presently still suspended. – May 22, 2021.