Changes to my policies resulted in Vision 2020 failing, says Dr M

 

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said what brought down the BN government was its own mistakes and he was just a tool for the people to focus their energy.

PETALING JAYA: Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad says changes to his plans and policies led to Malaysia being unable to meet its Vision 2020 goals.

In a pre-recorded interview prior to the fall of the Pakatan Harapan-led administration, Mahathir said in his first stint as prime minister, the government had already decided on the country’s direction and the actions needed to meet its goals.

“When I resigned, the focus on development was different, the policies, too. When it changed, we were unable to meet our goals.

“The policies introduced after I resigned were very different from those I decided on and planned for to meet our goals,” he said in the interview which was aired on Mahathir’s Facebook page today.

Despite these changes, Mahathir said the country still accomplished a lot though it was not at the level where Malaysia could be considered a developed nation.

Vision 2020, an ideal covering various aspects of life, was first articulated by Mahathir in 1991. He visualised Malaysia becoming an industrialised and self-sufficient nation by 2020.

Previously, Mahathir had said Vision 2020 could not be realised because of alleged abuse of power by the Najib Razak-led administration.

Today, he said if Najib had performed well in developing the nation and looking after the welfare of the people, it would not have been possible for PH to win the 14th general election.

“What toppled the government was the dissatisfaction of the people with the administration.

“I was just a tool to focus the energy (of the people) so they had another option. What brought down the government was its (own) mistakes.”

On the development of the nation, Mahathir said the government could provide opportunities to the people but it was up to them to seize and make full use of them. - FMT