PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has reaffirmed his promise to hand over the reins to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim “within three years”.
“I have made a promise that I will step down and Anwar will succeed me,“ he told CNBC in Bangkok on Saturday when he was attending the 34th Asean Summit.
Mahathir had pledged to make way for Anwar within two years when he returned as prime minister after Pakatan Harapan won the 14th general elections on May 9, 2018.
When asked if he would stay in office to oversee a reduction in the national debt, Mahathir said: “No. I will not go beyond three years.”
At the 20th Asia Oil and Gas Conference 2019 today, Mahathir again came to the defence of Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, saying the economic affairs minister does not have to step down.
He argued that Azmin “is not so stupid” that he would do anything to jeopardise his own reputation and political career.
Mahathir said the dissemination of several sex videos was a deliberate attempt to tarnish Azmin’s reputation.
He was commenting on a blog post by his communications and media adviser Datuk A. Kadir Jasin who cited several examples of ministers who had to resign over such controversies.
“It is not necessary for Azmin to take such action simply because ministers from other countries have done it,“ he said.
The prime minister also dismissed claims that the government is out to bankrupt Umno through the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) civil forfeiture suit.
“There’s no question (about it). If we wanted to bankrupt Umno, we could have done so much earlier,“ he said.
Last Friday, MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said the commission was filing civil forfeiture suits against 41 individuals and entities, including Umno, in order to recover money that were obtained from 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
It was alleged that Umno branches in Selangor, Pahang, Kedah, Johor, Sabah and Kelantan had collectively received the largest chunk of the RM270 million belonging to the state investment arm.
