Dr M should serve full term, says PPBM veep

PPBM vice-president Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman says Dr Mahathir Mohamad was reluctant to make a comeback to the top post.

PUTRAJAYA: A senior PPBM leader said Dr Mahathir Mohamad should serve full term as prime minister, in comments likely to anger supporters of Anwar Ibrahim who say the PKR leader should take over the top post by next year.

PPBM vice-president Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman said Mahathir played a crucial role in steering the Pakatan Harapan coalition to victory last year, and any leader eyeing his post should be ready to do the same in the next general election.

“The person who wants to be prime minister, he must be the one to lift the PH coalition to lead the government.”

Rashid said Mahathir has repeatedly promised to step down once the economy recovers.

“Right now, let Mahathir finish this term. When the economy recovers, Mahathir will step down.

“We support Mahathir. God-willing, if he remains healthy, let him complete the full term. Don’t change, we cannot change. It’s not right,” Rashid told FMT in a recent interview.

The next general election is due in 2023.

Mahathir recently told a forum in New York that he would need at the most three years before he could hand over to a suitable candidate before the next elections.

This angered supporters of Anwar, including former PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali, who said Mahathir had failed to improve the economy.

Anwar had earlier told Bloomberg in an interview that he was expecting to take over from Mahathir as prime minister next year.

Under an agreement struck by PH leaders, Mahathir is to hand over power to Anwar, although no date was mentioned in public.

Rashid echoed other PPBM leaders in saying that there was no specific date set for Anwar’s takeover. Critics however said it was understood that Mahathir was only an interim prime minister, and should step down mid-term.

But Rashid said Mahathir was persuaded to become the prime minister before the 14th general election last yer, saying he was a reluctant candidate.

“Mahathir didn’t want to. I am part of the PH presidential council, I was there when the decision was made.

“There was no two-year duration set for him to step down. We chose who to lead the party to win the elections,” he said.

Rashid said there should be no more talk on the date of handing over power to Anwar.

“Even investors don’t want to come in if we continue talking about changing the prime minister,” he said. - FMT