There is a huge responsibility on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's shoulders as he needs to repair a "weak" Barisan Nasional government", said former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Speaking at a public forum in Petaling Jaya today, Mahathir said the ruling coalition is becoming weaker now that all major BN component parties are weak.

"Umno is weak, Gerakan is weak, MCA is weak and MIC is weak...Because of all this, the country is led by a weak government...and a weak government will not be able to benefit us.

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"This is the situation that we face today is because they only care about their personal interests rather than the interests for the race, religion and the country," said the former Umno president ( centre, left ).

According to him, Najib has to repair all the damage done by his predecessor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi during his five-year tenure as the prime minister.

"He (Abdullah) only prioritised himself and his family. He is involved in corruption so all are involved in corruption. Today we can see that almost all was destroyed when he was PM," said Mahathir.

Now that the damage has been done, he added, Najib is "forced to entertain demands from other races", which eventually will not add support to the government.

"If we have to take what is rightful for one race and give it to another just to get their support, then we might get the support from this race but will certainly lose support from the other race," he said.

Although Mahathir did not make it clear as to what he was referring to, it is an apparent reference to Najib's 1Malaysia's slogan that prioritises equality for all races.

This was followed with the government's measure to remove the 30 percent bumiputera equity condition in some 27 sub-sectors, which raised eye-brows from many quarters.

The government bows to pressure

In his 30-minute speech, Mahathir also recollected the good times BN used to enjoy when it easily won a two thirds majority in Parliament before its setback in the last general elections.

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"That time, our power was very strong until we could amend the constitution when we wanted to do so.

"When we are strong, people will not dare to challenge us, people will not dare to make harsh statements that will raise tension among the different races," he stressed.

But now the times have changed, said Mahathir.

"Now it seems that nobody cares about the law because they assume we are being led by a weak government that has no power to do anything," he said.

He further said that the government also tends to bow to pressure by the people in making decisions.

"If we all break the law, what is the government going to do? And the government knows that they cannot do anything.

"If they arrest anyone, tomorrow they have to release them because of pressure (from the people)," he said.

Mahathir went on to attack Pakatan Rakyat which he claimed "are more liberal" as they encourage public discussion of sensitive issues which could cause tension among the races.

"Now the relationship between all the races no longer exists.

The support for BN has also declined due to false accusations made by Pakatan saying that we do not fight for the rights of the people," he said.