Mahathir vows to step down as promised unless 'gun is put to his head'

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has reiterated his promise to relinquish the prime minister's post before the end of his term.

“Unless they push me to the corner and put a gun on my head to continue until the term is finished.

“Unless you do that, I will step down. I will keep my promise,” he told reporters in Putrajaya this morning.

On Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali supporting the proposal for him to continue serving as prime minister, Mahathir replied: “That is his opinion.”

“But I have given my undertaking, I will step down when I find that the situation in the country has been put on an even... maybe two years, three years.

“I don't know, we are working on that,” he added. 

Azmin (above) had previously said he “welcomed” PAS president Hadi Abdul Awang’s support for Mahathir to stay on as prime minister for a full term.

This came in the midst of the investigation into the sex videos purportedly implicating Azmin. Mahathir has since said the videos were cooked up by someone with a political agenda.

Observers have speculated that the sex videos may be related to the transition plan.

Mahathir had repeatedly said he will step down as prime minister and hand over the reins to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

He again vowed yesterday not to renege on his agreement to hand over leadership to Anwar, after being quizzed on the sex videos.

“Well, I have already agreed that when I step down, he will take over from me as prime minister.

“That is a promise I made and I will stay with the promise,” he had said. - Mkini