19 minutes
PETALING JAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned as prime minister because he felt the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) leadership council “listened more to his political secretary than him”, A. Kadir Jasin said.
The interim premier’s media adviser said Mahathir had appealled to the leadership council not to force him to abandon his principles and renege on his promise (to hand over power to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahin in November).
“At the leadership council meeting last Sunday, he had explained the wide mandate the PH Presidential Council had given him at the meeting of Feb 21,“ Kadir said in his blog.
But they did not listen to him and Mahathir later tendered his resignation as party chairman.
The party’s supreme council had rejected his resignation after they attended a special party meeting on Monday night
He said first thing this morning, Mahathir received an unplanned visit by leaders of his party at his private residence in Sungai Besi where they had come to plead with him to withdraw his decision on Monday to resign as chairman of the party.
He said the interim prime minister is not treating their appeal as an urgent matter, as there are many more urgent matters that require his attention. These include managing the economy, steadying the capital market, continuing with the proposed economic stimulus package, consulting with top civil servants and meeting leaders of the main political parties.
“The last bit of the agenda will help him understand more clearly the extent of support most of them had expressed for him and, from there, to plot the next move.
“For instance, are they supporting him because they genuinely want him to continue to lead the country or because they don’t want their adversaries to win popular support to become prime minister? If the support is genuine and there’s no other contender, he can start forming a new government,“ Kadir said.
He said whatever form of government Mahathir decides on, one thing is sure, the crooks, kleptocrats, and the generally corrupt are not welcome.
Kadir added that Mahathir had made clear to his party at the Sunday meeting that the rule of law, the high-profile trials and the reform agenda will continue.
