FORMER prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today attempted to deflect allegations that the country’s political crisis began when he resigned as prime minister on Feb 24.
“Is it true that I resigned suddenly without any reason?” Mahathir asked in a post on his blog, according to Free Malaysia Today.
“I was supposedly supported by the government and the opposition, including Najib Razak and others who are being charged with corruption. This doesn’t make sense.”
He said he resigned because, as he acknowledged to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, he did not have majority support and “did not deserve” to be prime minister.
Mahathir resigned as chairman of his party PPBM or Bersatu on Feb 24 just hours after stepping down as prime minister amid intense speculation that a coalition comprising MPs from both sides of the divide was planning to form a new federal government.
The Agong accepted Mahathir’s resignation and immediately appointed him interim prime minister.
Mahathir said he suggested a national government be made up of knowledgeable people, and that he was open to members of political parties joining the government as long as they were not subject to their parties’ agenda.
“But my proposal was rejected. I resigned. And this crisis continues. I don’t know when it will end.”
On Sunday, PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as Malaysia’s eighth prime minister after the week-long stalemate left the country without a working government in the wake of the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan coalition. – March 3, 2020
