Dr M: I will serve the country until my last breath

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad declared that he would continue serving Malaysia “until his last dying breath”.

“Even if I were to die in the process, I have to do my duty for the country,” he said.

Despite saying that he would retire from politics multiple times, Mahathir claimed that people had been prodding him to return and save the nation from kleptocrats.

In an interview with The Sunday Star, the 97-year-old added he did not have the heart to turn them down saying, “It will be very selfish of me to think only about myself and not about the country.”

“I have dedicated my life to this country, so if people ask me to do something for the nation, I cannot just tell them ‘Sorry, I am looking after my own health’”.

“That is not the kind of reaction you will get from me,” he was quoted as saying by the English daily.

The former Pakatan Harapan chairperson also hit back at certain quarters who claimed that he suffers from a trust deficit after allegedly not letting his former coalition colleague, Anwar Ibrahim, become the eighth prime minister.

“What is it that I have done which earned distrust from the people? Have I stolen money? Have I been corrupt? Find that out!

“They say that I have billions of dollars – then show me those billions.

“We can show Najib (Razak) had billions of dollars but those who say they distrust me cannot even show one cent belonging to me. I have no money.”

Don’t take Anwar seriously

On Anwar becoming the country’s 10th prime minister should Harapan recaptures Putrajaya, Mahathir is of the opinion that the former’s words should not be taken seriously.

He reminded the people that Anwar once claimed that he was already the prime minister and Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin was no longer in power.

“But it turns out Anwar was not the prime minister yet. He has been telling people that he will be the next prime minister the past four times.”

On that note, Mahathir felt Anwar was incapable of running the country’s economy, citing the time when the latter was made acting prime minister in 1997 but “failed completely”.

“When we had the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, all Anwar wanted to do was to follow Michel Camdessus (former managing director of the International Monetary Fund).

“If he had done so then, this country would have been bankrupt.

“Anwar is only good at criticising others but not good at doing anything on his own,” he claimed.

Asked if Anwar would collaborate with BN to become the prime minister, Mahathir said the opposition leader was capable of anything.

“With Anwar, there is always a possibility. If they promise to make him prime minister, he will do anything.”

‘Do not fear GTA’

Meanwhile, the pro tem chairperson of fledgling Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) stressed that his coalition, as well as Pejuang, are not racist and hostile towards non-Malays, although it is a Malay-centric coalition.

Therefore, Mahathir said non-Malays need not fear the GTA Malays as they will give other races a place in the government.

In a Facebook post today, he stressed that the coalition will uphold the supremacy of the law and the separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judiciary.

“Please remember that since Independence, the country has been governed by a Malay-dominant government.

“However, the non-Malays have always been a step ahead that the Malays are often left behind,” he stated.

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