Dr M: We inherited a broken govt

‘We saw the damage from outside but never expected it to be so extensive’

PUTRAJAYA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says his new administration inherited a government wrecked by corruption and untrustworthy officials.

“From outside we saw the damage, but we never expected the damage to be so extensive.

“Most of the top echelons in the government are corrupt,” he told CNN in a special interview aired yesterday. Dr Mahathir spoke of how he had to work with people who were suspects.

“It’s a very difficult job, if you don’t work with people you trust, you don’t know whether what you want them to do will be done or not,” he told interviewer Anna Coren.

The CNN report also touched on succession plans.

“If the condition for us working together is my serving as Prime Minister for two or three years, for me that is not important. I will abide by the wishes of the people,” he said.

Before the 14th General Election, Pakatan Harapan announced that Dr Mahathir would be Prime Minister for two years after which he would hand over the reins to PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Dr Mahathir said his personal opinion of Anwar did not matter.

“I have to trust him whether I like it or not. I can’t be here all the time,” he said, adding that if the people wanted him to serve beyond the time agreed with his coalition partners, he would stay in power.

Dr Mahathir also said Malaysia’s relationship with China “has always been friendly”.

“There’s a saying that the powerful will take what they will, the weak will yield what they must,” he said.

With China’s increasingly assertive behaviour in the South China Sea, Dr Mahathir said the country “cannot go to war with them”.

“They are more powerful, and we cannot fight against them, (so) how do we benefit from their wealth and their power? That’s what we are looking at now.

“We have to accept the reality of the situation,” he said.

Dr Mahathir also reportedly accused China of seeking to spread its influence with the money that it has.

He said although China-backed mega projects were welcome in Malaysia, he cautioned against government or businesses relying on borrowing Chinese money.

Dr Mahathir also commented on US President Donald Trump’s economic policies, saying trade wars would do no good for the world.

“He asked for things which are quite unacceptable. For example, he wants to build a wall to separate Mexico from the US, and he is asking the Mexicans to pay.

“It’s your project, you pay! But is it because he thinks he’s powerful so he can ask people to pay for what he wants to do? So how do you deal with that kind of mindset?” he said, adding a trade war would make all, including the United States and China, to lose out.

“War and trade wars (don’t) solve any problems,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said Malaysia had tried to counter terrorism with very sophisticated ways using new technology, but pointed out that “terrorism has a reason, it has a cause”.

“You have to (tackle the) cause of terrorism, if you can tackle the cause and remove it, then there won’t be terrorism,” he said.

He blamed extremist religious leaders for fueling the violence.

“Islam that you see today is not actually the Islam that is taught by the religion. It is the Islam interpreted by certain powerful people, leaders, scholars and all that.

“Islam of the Quran is a very moderate Islam. (It) calls upon all Muslims to be brothers, it forbids killing, but (they) are doing all those things which are forbidden by Islam,” he said.

It’s a very difficult job to do, if you don’t work with people you trust. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad