Did Dr M say 'three years' or 'three more years' as PM?

FACT CHECK | Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was widely reported yesterday to have said that he would have three more years as the head of government.

This has ruffled feathers, especially among those who claim the 94-year-old is reneging on his promise to hand over power to Anwar Ibrahim within two years of Pakatan Harapan taking power.

However, checks by Malaysiakini found that Mahathir has been misquoted. 

Most news outlets (including Malaysiakini) had published the Bernama report which the news agency sent out with the headline "Three more years at the most - Mahathir", while the translated Malay report was titled "Paling lama pun, tiga tahun lagi"

However, in the article, Mahathir is quoted as saying "I may have at the most three years perhaps."

A check by Malaysiakini on RTM Facebook Live's video of his talk in New York on Thursday found the quote to be as above.

 An excerpt of his remarks (minute 9:10 - 9:31) are as follows:

"Work is very tough now. I have to work 18 hours a day, because I don't have much time.

"I promised that I would step down before the next election and give way to another candidate. So I may have at the most three years perhaps

"And during that three years I need to accomplish a lot of things."

Bernama corrected the title of its Malay report to remove the word "lagi" (more) yesterday. However, the English version has not been amended as of press time. Malaysiakini had also corrected its headline yesterday after noticing the discrepancy.

This is not the first time Mahathir has mentioned that he would stay in office for up to three years, although he once dismissed this as saying that three years was the time needed for "corrective work" to be carried out, not how long he would be prime minister.

This, however, runs contrary to a reported agreement he had with Harapan that he would hand over power to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim in two years time.

Anwar himself believes that the transition will happen next year.

However, some of Mahathir's supporters and Anwar's opponents have said that the prime minister should be allowed to serve out a full term in office meaning until the next general election in 2023. - Mkini