KUALA LUMPUR – Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has rubbished former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas’ claim that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong wanted to appoint Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as interim prime minister following the “Sheraton Move” last February.
In a lengthy blog post today, the former prime minister described Thomas’ claim, made in his new memoir, My Story: Justice in the Wilderness, as “nonsense”.
Dr Mahathir said Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah proposed that he maintain control temporarily, until a new prime minister with majority support was identified.
This was after Dr Mahathir announced his resignation as prime minister on February 24 at the height of the country’s political turmoil, and which resulted in a change in government.
He said the Agong initially rejected his resignation.
“Tommy knew nothing about my resignation. According to Tommy, I told him that the Agong wanted to appoint Dr Wan Azizah as interim prime minister. This is nonsense.
“He (Agong) at first refused to accept my resignation. I was adamant, and he then accepted it. But immediately, he asked me to be interim prime minister.
“He never proposed any other name, certainly not Dr Wan Azizah, the then deputy prime minister. I never offered myself, but it would be rude for me not to accept his proposal.”
Dr Mahathir said he accepted the designation as he understood that choosing a new prime minister would take time, and the country needed a head of government in the meantime.
In his book published on Monday, Thomas said the Agong wanted to appoint Dr Wan Azizah on an interim basis following Dr Mahathir’s resignation, but the latter offered his own name instead.
“This is probably without precedent in modern politics. A prime minister who is comfortably in power, resigns of his own free will and volition. Consistent with that decision, he should leave the political scene.”
He said the potential appointment of Dr Wan Azizah, who served as deputy prime minister in Dr Mahathir’s cabinet, would have been a constitutional decision.
Dr Mahathir dismissed this, saying neither Dr Wan Azizah, nor any other Pakatan Harapan MP, could take up the role, as the coalition was no longer the government.
“The Agong decided that the 222 MPs should nominate a new prime minister who had the support of the majority. He wanted them to make their choice by signing a statutory declaration in front of him.”
While he did not name himself as a potential prime minister candidate, Dr Mahathir said he had expected to be reappointed, at the time assuming that many government and opposition MPs would back him.
In the end, PH lawmakers named Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as their choice of prime minister. The PKR president got 92 votes and Dr Mahathir, 62, both failing to obtain a simple majority of 112.
Perikatan Nasional’s Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was named the eighth prime minister on March 1.
On Thomas’ claim that the cabinet should have been allowed to remain despite Dr Mahathir’s resignation, the latter said when a government falls due to the loss of majority support, there is no way the cabinet can remain.
“I cannot understand how a lawyer cannot understand that this was not a change of prime minister. The PH government had lost.” – The Vibes, February 3, 2021
