The people must realise that Pakatan Harapan has shortchanged them with sweet promises, according to Umno lawmaker Tajuddin Abdul Rahman.

He was responding to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's admission that the coalition needed more than 100 days to fulfil certain promises, which it had claimed could be done within the stipulated period before the last general election.

“It has only been 70 days (since Harapan has been in power). Actually, Harapan should have the confidence of delivering its promises. But they have conceded defeat right from the start.

“They give all sorts of excuses as to why the promises cannot be met... Only now they know how difficult it is to deliver promises of 'stars and moons'.

“So the people must realise they have been conned. Now it is up to them whether to continue believing Harapan or otherwise,” the Pasir Salak MP told Umno Online.

Mahathir and the Harapan government have pinned the blame on former premier Najib Abdul Razak's administration for the situation.

According to them, the previous administration had burned a massive financial hole in the nation's coffers.

Speaking at a fundraising dinner last night, Mahathir accused Najib of "destroying" the government machinery by abusing it to prop up his regime.

He said this is why many government officers who were involved had to be removed, and it would take time for the government to recover.

“The damage done to the country is far worse than what we suspected. Not only billions of ringgit disappeared, but the government machinery had been sabotaged that it no longer functions properly.

“We have to remove some of the officers who were involved in sustaining the previous government... We have to take this action to remove many officers because they have participated in the damages caused by the previous government,” he added.

Najib, on the other hand, has accused Mahathir's administration of turning him into a convenient scapegoat for its shortcomings.