I'll be PM for 2 years at the most, Dr Mahathir tells paper

Updated 6 years ago · Published on 3 Feb 2018 9:26PM · 1 Comments

Pakatan chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad (centre) has told a Japanese daily that he will be prime minister for two years at the most should the opposition take over government in the 14th general election. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Najjua Zulkefli, February 3, 2018.

DR Mahathir Mohamad has said he will be prime minister for two years at the most should Pakatan Harapan (PH) win the 14th general election.

The 92-year-old former prime minister and chairman of the opposition coalition told Japanese daily The Mainichi that he was just being realistic about his age.

“I can’t stay for very long. At the most, I can last for two years,” Dr Mahathir told The Mainichi.

However, he said he was still up for the fight to change government in the 14th general election, even though going against the ruling Barisan Nasional is an uphill battle.

Dr Mahathir was nominated as PH’s prime minister candidate should the pact form the next government at national polls, which must be held by August.

His candidacy drew protests from certain quarters, who hold him responsible for decisions during his 22-year-tenure which eroded the independence of national institutions and curbed civil liberties.

The former prime minister also said the opposition coalition will do its best to obtain a royal pardon from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong for jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim so the latter can eventually take over as prime minister.

Anwar, who was Dr Mahathir’s deputy during his tenure as prime minister, is currently serving a five-year jail sentence after he was convicted of sodomy in 2015.

Dr Mahathir also touched on the government’s alleged growing relationship with China, saying that Malaysia is no longer globally neutral.

He said China is seen by Prime Minister Najib Razak as a source of funds to borrow, but this may present issues when the country cannot repay its debts. – February 3, 2018.

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Comments

  • Concentration is a state of the mind , and as a state of mind, it is perhaps the highest state of the mind. When our mind is concentrated, everything makes sense - we will find the meaning behind all that the eye of our mind sees - its a penetrative state of mind, in that when our mind is concentrated, we will know what do next, even without any guidance or assitance from anyone else.

    Nobody i suppose, can stay in a concentrated state of mind 24-7. Our level of practise plays a part in determining how long we can concentrate our mind, and i suppose age plays a part too.

    Dr.Mahathir seems to me now like a person who is just not able to concentrate his mind like he was able to do before. His views are scattered - one minute he tells the indians that if he comes to power he won't disappoint them in the future and the next minute he is telling the Japanese delegate that at best he is going to be in power for two years. How do you not disappoint the indians in the future when you only think you are going to be in power for at most two years ?

    I know this indian-japanese contradiction is just the one example, and the reason i could remember it is because i just read what he said to the indians and the japanese delegates in the malaysian insight today, so the news is still fresh in my mind, but i do remember that there are other occasions when i heard Dr. Mahathir reason and thought his reasonings were confused and contradictory and lost. The more you can concentrate your mind , the less you will contradict yourself, the less will you sound lost and confused.

    I know Dr Mahathir sounded very clear and sure and visionary in his earlier days. I can't say the same thing about him now.

    Now, i can only think that perhaps age has gotten to him. He is not like his old self anymore, and i don't mean that in a good way.

    Posted 6 years ago by Nehru Sathiamoorthy · Reply