PH inherited a corrupt govt: Dr M
> PM says only a few top officials are trustworthy
PETALIN JAYA: Pakatan Harapan, which took power at the 14th general election, inherited a corrupt government with only a few trustworthy officials, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad ( pix).
He said most of the top echelon in the government whom he had to work with are corrupt.
“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,” Mahathir told CNN in an interview.
“From outside we saw the damage, but we never expected the damage to be so extensive.”
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has been charged with several counts of corruption for allegedly embezzling millions in public money from 1MDB.
Mahathir, 93, the world’s oldest leader, had been credited with turning the country into a major trading and economic force in Southeast Asia before he left politics in 2003.
He had teamed up with former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to lead Pakatan Harapan in toppling Najib in a landslide victory.
“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,” Mahathir said.
He added that 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 if the people wanted him to serve beyond the time agreed with his coalition partners, then he would stay in power.
On ties with China, Mahathir said Malaysia has always been friendly with China and that Chinabacked mega projects are welcome, but he didn’t want the government or businesses to be reliant on borrowing money from China.
The prime minister has also cancelled the multi-billion-dollar China-backed East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project after a government assessment found it was billions over budget.