'More urgent matters for Dr M to deal with than moving to PMO'

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is not yet ready to join his colleagues in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), some of whom clocked in today.

A spokesperson for the PMO said relocating the prime minister from the Perdana Leadership Foundation was not an immediate priority.

"There is nothing peculiar about the prime minister's decision to function from the PLF office for now.

"He did mention that he will move to the PMO sometime this week or next. I think he feels that there are more pressing matters to deal with," said the spokesperson.

Mahathir has been running the government from the PLF office in Presint 8, Putrajaya since he was sworn in as prime minister on May 10.

Two of his cabinet colleagues - Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali - clocked in for work at the PMO today.

The PLF has been Mahathir's office since 2003 when he first retired as prime minister. The PLF was formed to promote the intellectual legacies of Malaysia's past prime ministers.

Since being sworn in, Mahathir has been conducting meetings with government officials at the PLF and have also received several foreign dignitaries, including the Brunei ruler and the Singaporean prime minister.

It is understood that the PMO was being combed by investigators looking into the 1MDB affair, but the spokesperson did not comment on this.

"Moving to a new office will take more than half a day, I believe that the prime minister needs more time to attend to other urgent matters at the moment," said the spokesperson. -Mkini