Dr M ‘put a stop’ to Guan Eng’s adviser, claims report

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad reportedly claimed to have put a stop to an adviser to then finance minister Lim Guan Eng for overreaching his authority on civil servants, according to a report.

It said in Mahathir’s upcoming book, the unnamed senior DAP figure had unauthorised involvement in government business, and this could provide ammunition for Umno supporters to exploit racial issues against DAP.

Among others, the individual was delegated “a lot” by Lim and came to think he could wield power over civil servants.

He purportedly participated in businesses negotiations involving the government despite not being empowered to do so and resorted to threats.

“It’s not the way a government works, and I put a stop to all instances of it that I was aware of, but it was this kind of behaviour that allowed the Umno cyber troopers to play up ethnic insecurities,” Mahathir reportedly wrote in his book, according to a report by the news portal MalaysiaNow.

The book titled ‘Capturing Hope: The Struggle Continues for a New Malaysia’ is his second memoir and would cover the period from his retirement in 2003 up to his return to power in 2018. It is expected to be available in major bookstores for RM100 per copy later this month.

The report said Mahathir (above) did not name Lim’s adviser but noted that an elected representative in the Klang Valley had been his close confidant at the Finance Ministry during the Pakatan Harapan administration.

Ministerial proposals

The report said Mahathir wrote about an incident where the adviser purportedly threatened a property developer who was facing financial problems in a joint- venture project with the government to develop a multi-billion ringgit complex in Kuala Lumpur. 

The government during Najib Abdul Razak’s administration supposedly agreed to provide a loan to the developer, but one of the conditions of the loan was that the entire project would be handed to the government if it falls behind schedule.

“Now, this particular DAP adviser did, in fact, make this threat despite the fact that billions had already been spent, and he did so without reference to or indeed getting any authorisation from the government.

“There were also occasions when this adviser spoke publicly on behalf of the government despite having no standing to do so,” Mahathir was quoted as saying in his book.

Nevertheless, ministerial proposals have to be agreed on collectively by the cabinet, and Mahathir reportedly wrote that Lim always referred to him and sought his approval on nearly all his initiatives.

“In fact, even in cabinet meetings, every time he proposed something, he would end it by saying ‘if the prime minister agrees’,” he was quoted as saying. - Mkini