‘Workaholic’ Dr M expects team to move fast – Lim
KUALA LUMPUR: Once political enemies, Lim Guan Eng now finds Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to be a man ardent about justice and the rule of law.
But the finance minister says one trait of the fourth and now seventh prime minister remains: He is a compulsive worker.
“It’s challenging. He’s a workaholic,” Lim told Malay Mail in an interview at his office in Putrajaya.
“He works and works non-stop so you are expected to work nonstop. If I’m a workaholic, don’t blame me. I’m just following the boss. It’s a high benchmark.”
Lim, the DAP secretary-general, had been imprisoned twice while Dr Mahathir was prime minister from 1981 until 2003. He had been detained under the Internal Security Act in 1987 and jailed in the 1990s under the Sedition Act.
But Lim and Dr Mahathir joined forces in this year’s general election and succeeded in ousting Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Barisan Nasional (BN), the first time a coalition led by Umno has been defeated since the country’s independence in 1957.
“We find that Mahathir is not the Mahathir that we were used to when he first became PM.
“This is a Mahathir who talks about rule of law all the time. He talks about fulfilling the promises in our manifesto and he sticks to it.”
But at the same time, Dr Mahathir wants things to be done very quickly, said Lim.
“He is very impatient. We all know he has no time. And he is very determined that justice is done for the country,” Lim said.
The DAP chief also credited Dr Mahathir’s leadership of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition as being crucial in convincing the Malay community that their interests would be protected.
Dr Mahathir also provided the credibility of an experienced leader who knew how to get the job done, said Lim.
“He was able to also allay the fears of the Malays because it is Mahathir. He is in charge. Nobody will question the fact that Mahathir is in charge.”
Lim also laughed off how Umno had during the election campaign tried to suggest Dr Mahathir would be a puppet of the DAP.
“It doesn’t carry any bite using race, that Mahathir would be a puppet. Do you think Dr Mahathir would be a puppet of anybody?”