PAKATAN Harapan’s manifesto was crafted by an opposition that did not believe it would actually win federal power, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad, adding that the pact, nevertheless, remains committed to fulfilling all its promises.
“Among the things we put in the manifesto was, limiting the prime minister’s power. Then, we discovered that we are the power, and we limit the power we have now.
“The prime minister only having two terms is fine by me. If we have a prime minister (who is) 100 (years old), it would be a world record,” the 93-year-old said at the “Malaysians for Malaysia” Merdeka celebrations in Kuala Lumpur today.
The prime minister said PH leaders, after taking over Putrajaya, found themselves in an unfamiliar position, as many had spent decades opposing the ruling government.
“Now that we are the government, there is a little bit of discomfort for those who had been opposing the ruling government for 61 years. They now find it difficult to be the government.
“They don’t know how to behave, and they find that the manifesto is against them.”
Present were Dr Mahathir’s daughter and rights activist Marina Mahathir, deputy minister Hannah Yeoh, former Selangor exco Elizabeth Wong, Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah, lawyer Siti Kasim and women’s rights activist Ivy Josiah. Some 200 people were in attendance.
Dr Mahathir said PH must keep its word on providing more room for checks and balances, including the pledge that the Public Accounts Committee chairman would be from the opposition.
“We promised this, so we must have ourselves examined and scrutinised by the opposition, which was previously the ruling government.
He said with Barisan Nasional’s historic defeat, Malaysians no longer felt oppressed.
“Sometimes, we catch them smiling to themselves. They feel there are no longer oppressed. There was fear before.
“Smiling to ourselves, it’s okay, but what’s important is the delivery. We need to deliver on our promises.”
Dr Mahathir said he was happy that Putrajaya was once again the venue for the annual Merdeka parade, adding that the wide central boulevard was designed for such purposes.
He spoke only briefly, and stayed for just an hour. Organisers were informed of his attendance a mere three hours before the event began. – August 31, 2018.
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Comments
Posted 7 years ago by MELVILLE JAYATHISSA · Reply
Posted 7 years ago by MELVILLE JAYATHISSA · Reply
Posted 7 years ago by Teruna Kelana · Reply
it was indeed a team effort @ 48+42+13+11= 114
commendable work done in the first 100 days
in the final analysis its all about sustainability/viability of the economy
fm lge made a pertinent statement that operationally (at least) we need to keep the administration afloat and the standing charges
it'll, indeed be interesting how the gap between sst and gst will be plugged
wonder what would have (thinking aloud/allowed) if ph had fine tuned the gst (by zero rating) more items as in some ways its a holistic wholesome tax of sorts adopted by 170 odd countries and the mechanism already in place
the issue was the input tax refunds which could have been tweaked accordingly
anyway, pointless grinding the inevitable but the dedication and zeal shown by PH is inspiring indeed casting aside the new broom sweeps well analogy of a syndrome
on the world economic front, the EM curriences seem to be undergoing a rout of sorts ie turkey,argentina,india, indonesia as the US QE initiative appears to have halted albeit growth initiated with an interest rate,protectionism and a flexible tax regime
i just pray this is not a precursor of a contagin akin to '97....
Posted 7 years ago by Warrick singh dhalial · Reply