PM's aide denies stating choices for Dr M's successor 'not great'

A Kadir Jasin has denied a news report, which quoted him as stating there are no suitable choices to replace Dr Mahathir Mohamad as prime minister.

He said this when asked to comment on a FMT report regarding his remarks on the succession issue during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

“As it stands today, unless we do something, the choices we have (for prime minister) are not great,” he was quoted as saying.

Asked if his statement could be interpreted as branding PKR president Anwar Ibrahim as unsuitable for the post, Kadir, who is the prime minister's media and communications adviser, claimed that the quote was erroneous.

“I did not say that,” he told Malaysiakini this afternoon.

Describing the quote attributed to him as “not correct”, Kadir said: “I said as far as we are concerned, it was already decided before the general election.”

Meanwhile, FMT also reported that Kadir said the criticism against Mahathir from within the Pakatan Harapan coalition on this issue reflected the greater openness under the current administration.

“This is the difference between the current and former governments, where we allow and respect freedom of expression,” he added.

Kadir, who is the former News Straits Times Group editor-in-chief, also pointed out that Mahathir had repeatedly said he would relinquish the prime minister's post as promised.

“This is between Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim,” he added.

Over the weekend, PKR founding member Syed Husin Ali criticised Mahathir for delaying the succession date.

This is after the 94-year-old premier said he would remain in the post for a maximum of three years before passing the baton.

However, in a recent interview with Bloomberg, Anwar said he expects to succeed Mahathir next year.

Speculation has been rife that despite the consensus in Pakatan Harapan, Mahathir did not want Anwar to succeed him and the nation was poised to witness the repeat of the 1998 fallout between the pair. - Mkini