ISLAMABAD – Malaysian interim Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad broke thesilence on Wednesday since his resignation, saying that he was willing toreturn to power if there was sufficient support for him to establish anon-partisan government prioritizing the interest of the country.
Meanwhile, the previous ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition announcedthat they are backing Mahathir’s former deputy Anwar Ibrahim as the primeminister.
In his first public address since resigning on Monday, Mahathir said therewere “many reasons” behind his resignation, but specifically brushing offaccusations that he was not willing to give up his position and that he wascrazy on power.
“To me, that power and position is ‘a means to an end’ or a tool to achievethe objective. And our objective is of course for the good of the country,”the 94-year-old said in a televised speech.
He had promised to resign to give an opportunity to the lower house ofparliament to pick the one to replace him. “If it’s true that I am stillsupported, I will return. Otherwise, I will accept whoever is chosen,” hesaid.
Mahathir called on Members of Parliament (MPs) to support him asindividuals across party lines to serve the country.
“Politics, politicians and political parties are attaching too muchimportance to politics to forget that the country is facing economic andhealth problems that are threatening the country,” he said.
Mahathir said the politics and political parties need to be set aside fornow. “If it is allowed, I will try to have a government that is not infavor of any party. Only the interests of the nation will be prioritized,”he said.
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Mahathir led the Pakatan Harapan coalition to power after winning thegeneral elections in May 2018. He abruptly resigned on Monday followingrumors of the forming of a new ruling collation involves multiple parties.
Malaysia’s King Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah accepted Mahathir’sresignation but appointed him as the interim prime minister. SultanAbdullah interviewed members of the 222-seat lower house of the parliamentto decide the new prime minister.
Following Mahathir’s speech, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) presidential councilsaid in a statement that all of its three remaining component parties hadsupported the candidacy of Anwar as the prime minister.
The statement said the coalition had invited Mahathir to reestablish the PHgovernment, but the latter didn’t agree to participate in the councilmeeting.
“Thus, the decision of the presidential council determined that the PrimeMinister candidate of Pakatan Harapan will be Anwar Ibrahim,” it said.
The PH coalition swept to power during national polls in May 2018 butceased to command a majority of MPs after Mahathir’s Parti Pribumi BersatuMalaysia (PPBM) party withdrew from the coalition on Monday. – Xinhua
