KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (pix) refused to share his thoughts on whether Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim should be appointed as special functions minister, saying some things are better kept to himself.
The prime minister was responding to a suggestion by his media and communications advisor Datuk A. Kadir Jasin that it was time the PKR president be considered the post in Cabinet following Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) humbling defeat in Tanjung Piai recently.
Mahathir said that was merely Kadir’s opinion, adding that he need not necessarily take up all the suggestions that were thrown at him.
“In Malaysia, we are all free to speak, anybody can share their own opinions. And I listen to all the things that are being said by everybody.
“But not everything we have to agree. There have been lots of ideas about reshuffling the Cabinet, and this is freedom of speech,” he told a press conference in Parliament, here, today.
“Whether I respond or not, and what I think, is kept to myself. I don’t have to reveal my thoughts to everybody.”
Kadir had, in a blog post today, said he agreed with Mahathir’s decision to reshuffle the Cabinet as several ministers were not performing and that it was timely to examine Anwar’s role in PH.
On a gathering of a group of former members of the Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) on Sunday, Mahathir said he was in the dark over the matter as he had only recently flew back from South Korea on a work trip.
“I didn’t know they had a meeting. I just came back (from Korea). If you ask me about Korea, I can answer,” he said.
About 300 former CPM members had gathered in Kajang on Sunday to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Hatyai Peace Accord, which saw the end of a 21 years armed struggle.
Among those present at the gathering were DAP’s Sungai Pelek assemblyperson Ronnie Liu, PKR veteran Syed Husin Ali, Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) chairman Dr Michael Jeyakumar.
