‘Khazanah my responsibility’
Dr M: As chairman, I must put it back on track
KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has defended his appointment as Khazanah Nasional Bhd chairman, saying it was his duty to put it “back on track”.
“We are trying to change Khazanah to concentrate on certain issues, most of which I know and I have been involved in.
“I was the one who started Khazanah, so we want to put it in the right direction,” the Prime Minister told reporters after attending the Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting in Parliament yesterday.
Dr Mahathir said as the sovereign wealth fund’s founder, there was nothing wrong with him holding the position.
“I am not going to be the chief executive officer. I’m not going to get a salary of RM7mil.”
Dr Mahathir also rubbished claims that he and PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali were out to topple prime minister-in-waiting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“Have you ever heard me say anything bad about Anwar or Azmin?
“This is their party. I don’t interfere,” said the Pakatan chairman.
When asked on the political appointees in the Pakatan government who have yet to be paid, Dr Mahathir said they would receive their dues in time.
He added that the matter would be looked into as the procedures would take time.
“I will ask them. I don’t know about it. They must be patient.
“We changed the government after 60 years. That’s not something we do every day,” he said.
On the Education Ministry’s decision to terminate subscriptions to Utusan Malaysia, Dr Mahathir said the people were free to read it outside of schools.
“We are not going to arrest people and burn the newspapers,” he said.