KUALA LUMPUR – Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Pakatan Harapan would not have won the 14th general election in May 2018 had it not been for him.
The nonagenarian said it was only when the party he set up, Bersatu, joined the then opposition that the bloc was able to topple the Barisan Nasional government after multiple failed attempts.
He attributed the failed bids to the fact that the then opposition had no Malay-based component, therefore, it was unable to secure the community’s support.
“If I hadn’t formed Bersatu, the opposition would continue to be multiracial and would never win (the election). They had tried many times, but they never won.
“We (Bersatu) brought in the Malays, and only then did they win the election,” he told BFM Radio’s Breakfast Grille programme today.
Dr Mahathir, who is now Pejuang chairman, was asked why he did not join PKR after Bersatu decided to pull out of PH in February last year in the infamous Sheraton Move, resulting in his resignation as prime minister.
His first stint as prime minister was from 1981 to 2003, when he was Umno president.
The statesman said he did not make the jump to PKR as it is a multiracial party, adding that he preferred to bring Malay support to the opposition instead.
PH made history in GE14 when the opposition, for the first time in history, unseated the BN administration. Dr Mahathir was then made prime minister.
Recalling the Sheraton Move, the Langkawi MP said he did not bother to continue fighting as prime minister following Bersatu’s withdrawal from PH, as holding the top office in a minority government would not have worked.
“When PH collapsed, I was no longer the prime minister. My party rejected my advice, meaning they had no confidence in me, and so, I had to resign as Bersatu chairman. If not the chairman, then I could not be the prime minister.
“I had never been rejected by my own party throughout my life. That was my first time, and my own political secretary moved the motion to reject (me).”
On his seemingly hard stand on only leading a Malay party, Dr Mahathir said he wants to help the race, as there is a great wealth disparity between the community and other ethnicities.
He pointed out that other countries have undergone revolutions due to such disparity, and said he wants to avoid the same from happening in Malaysia.
“The Chinese and the Indians are looked after. The Chinese, for example, they came here as coolies (labourers), but not anymore. The Malays don’t have that capacity.
“The Malays have done some wrong things, and we can help them. But if you can’t admit the truth, then you can’t solve the problem.” – The Vibes, January 15, 2021
