138 MPs support Dr Mahathir?
LANGKAWI: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yesterday dismissed allegations and speculation linking him to a empts by certain quarters to keep him as prime minister for the rest of the electoral term.
The elder statesman yesterday reiterated that he will keep his promise to hand over the post to his successor a er the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit which Malaysia hosts in November this year.
Dr Mahathir’s statement yesterday was in response to claims and suggestions, as reported in a news portal yesterday, that 138 MPs had signed statutory declarations (SDs) in support of him completing a full term as the prime minister.
“Pakatan Harapan (PH) has the majority in Parliament today. This 138 figure is the work of others and I have no knowledge as to how they came up with this. In other words, there must be PH support to get this figure,” he told reporters a er performing the groundbreaking for the Villa Sirehan: Phase 2 project and a visit to the Rebungan Resort Langkawi in Ulu Melaka in Langkawi yesterday.
Asked if he was aware of the SDs, the prime minister replied: “I hear all sorts of things. (Some are saying) PM for 20 more years… I am 94 years old, 95 in another few months, so quite impossible.
“I promised to step down a er APEC, so I will keep to my promise. I am not involved with anything else (SDs), only the promise to step down and and I will step down,” he said.
Asked whether he felt talk over the prime minister power transition issue needs to halted, Dr Mahathir said the issue continued to be talked about as the subject was constantly the focus of the media.
“It’s the press (media), the press gets excited (over the transition issue), where there is controversy, there is news. So to the press, if both (PKR president) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and I do not get along for instance, the be er for them to sell their stories,” he said.
When asked, he said certain PH leaders tend to talk about the issue only because the media kept hounding them to comment on it.
“The Pakatan Harapan leaders come out with statements (on PM power transition issue) because they were asked about it by the media, otherwise there will none (statements).
The online portal quoted sources as saying that 138 MPs from sides have signed such documents, making it more than the simple majority of 112 required.
The alleged SDs insist that Dr Mahathir stay for a full term, which would be contrary to the Pakatan agreement prior to the 14th General Election (GE14) in May, 2018 that he would only be a transition premier and hand over power to Anwar.
The source claimed that of those who have signed such SDs, 18 were from PAS, 26 from Anwar’s own party PKR, at least 13 of the 39 Umno MPs, and all 26 MPs from Dr Mahathir’s own Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
In a statement yesterday, Anwar said he had met Dr Mahathir in Putrajaya to discuss the transition plan for the post of prime minister.
Anwar also claimed that PAS, a group from Umno and a handful of PKR members were involved in efforts to gather signatures to support Dr Mahathir’s leadership until the end of the full term.
Anwar said Dr Mahathir was not involved in these efforts and in fact reiterated his firm statement that he would hand over power as promised.