Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said it was not him who should be blamed for Anwar Ibrahim not becoming prime minister under the Pakatan Harapan administration.
Instead, he blamed those from within the coalition who engineered the Sheraton Move.
In particular, Mahathir placed the fault firmly on Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, its secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin and supreme council member Azmin Ali.
“I want to explain again, that my resignation (as prime minister) did not cause the Pakatan Harapan government's fall. If the Harapan government did not fall, they could have named Anwar as my successor.
“The ones who toppled the Harapan government were Muhyiddin, Hamzah and Azmin - who pulled out many of their members from Harapan until the coalition lost its majority and fell.
“So blame Azmin, Hamzah and Muhyiddin, as well as their followers who were involved with the Sheraton Move that denied Anwar the premiership... Don’t always blame me,” Mahathir said in a statement today.
He also said Anwar was at fault for pushing Azmin and several other PKR lawmakers at the time to become turncoats and in turn, cooperate with Muhyiddin.
Mahathir said this after Anwar and Harapan supporters have been accusing him nonstop of not fulfilling his promise of handing over the prime ministership to Anwar and of not discussing his decision to resign as prime minister with the coalition.
Mahathir explained that his decision to resign as prime minister amid the Sheraton Move in 2020 was similar to what happened with former British prime minister Liz Truss.
“For example in the UK, the country with the Westminster system that we follow, when the prime minister resigns, the ruling party decides who will be the replacement.
“Liz Truss recently did not discuss with the other leaders about her resignation. She resigned when she felt she no longer had support. That is the same as what I did.
“The difference is, the conservative party remained as the government even though (former British prime ministers) Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Truss resigned.
“Now it is Rishi Sunak who has become the prime minister of the conservative government,” he explained. - Mkini
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