Return of Mahathir as PM can be damaging to the country: Zahid

KUALA LUMPUR: The return of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as the prime minister can be damaging to the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said Dr Mahathir would repeat the mistakes he had made during his 22-year rule as the prime minister from 1981 to 2003.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the Home Minister, was asked to comment on the Pakatan Harapan decision to name Dr Mahathir as the candidate for prime minister if the opposition pact wins the next general election.
It was a recycling effort and it made the people wonder whether there were no other leaders of calibre in Pakatan Harapan eligible to become the prime minister, he said to reporters after opening the 2018 Crime Prevention Education Convention for the Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya federal territories, here, today.
Pakatan Harapan also decided last Sunday to name PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as its candidate for deputy prime minister.
Earlier, in his speech, Ahmad Zahid urged school crime prevention clubs to organise various programmes, talks and outdoor activities to expose students to the dangers of crime and how to avoid them.
He said schools should implement programmes with a subtle message, including in cooperation with parties such as the police, to enable students to be aware of criminal offences.
He also said that Malaysia had various laws for juvenile offences but some of these had to be reviewed so that they did not just punish offenders but also educated them.
"For example, the co-curriculum at the Henry Gurney School is oriented towards educating juvenile offenders instead of sending them to jail," he said.
Deputy Education Minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan, Kuala Lumpur Chief Police Officer Datuk Mazlan Lazim and Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) senior vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye were present at the event.
The one-day convention, organised by the Kuala Lumpur MCPF, drew participants from among people in the academic field in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya and is aimed at raising awareness on crime prevention education and on the current trend of crime. — Bernama