Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that his emphatic defeat in the recent general election will not prevent him from speaking up and voicing his opinions.
In a brief statement, Mahathir (above), who served as premier in two spells from 1981-2003 and 2018-2020, said that it was his duty to speak up and tell the truth.
"I found that after the election, every time I reprimanded someone or expressed concerns about current developments, I was told to rest and shut up because I lost the election and lost my deposit.
"I'm a bit puzzled why they want me to be silent. It used to be said that I was senile. Now I am told to keep quiet because the deposit is lost," said Mahathir.
He suffered a crushing defeat in the November polls, coming in fourth behind candidates from Bersatu-Perikatan Nasional, Umno-BN and Amanah-Pakatan Harapan, bagging less than 10 percent of the vote in a seat where he was the incumbent.
"For me, every truth needs to be stated even if only one person hears it. If no one is listening, the truth still needs to be told.
"Permission (to speak) is not a majority or minority monopoly nor does it depend on losing the deposit. If that's the measure, I think the minority group should keep quiet and accept whatever the majority decision is, even if it's wrong.
"As long as there is life, I will continue to voice what is not right even if it is bitter to be heard by groups that did not lose the deposit," said Mahathir.
The longest-serving prime minister in Malaysia's history recently quit the Pejuang party he formed after his shock departure from Bersatu.
His last term as prime minister came to a grinding halt when he decided to resign. This followed his attempt to form an all-party unity government under his leadership which ran contrary to an initial promise to hand over the prime minister's post to PKR president Anwar Ibrahim. - Mkini
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