Despite not getting enough votes to retain his role as an elected representative, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad remains active within the political scene by sharing his insights and experiences.
Recently, in an interview with Berita Harian, the 97-year-old expressed doubts over Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s ability to lead Malaysia through the economic recession and post-pandemic recovery challenges.
Mahathir said he was worried about Anwar’s ability to come up with good strategies to bring the country out of the current economic crisis, and stated that Anwar also seemed preoccupied with maintaining support in the Dewan Rakyat.
Meanwhile, he pointed out that Anwar’s performance as a leader was questionable even while he served as Deputy Prime Minister in the 1990s, as he failed to efficiently deal with many problems, including the 1997/1998 Asian Financial Crisis.
“There are definitely concerns about Anwar’s ability as Prime Minister because based on past experience, he failed to formulate a solution when faced with the 1997/1998 financial crisis, not to mention that he is now facing more complicated problems,” said Mahathir.
Mahathir further claimed that Anwar, who was also the Finance Minister then, failed to find a solution to the financial crisis, and he favoured following the opinion of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, which risked causing Malaysia to go bankrupt as a result.
“When I became Prime Minister for the first time, I went on leave for 2 months. While I was on leave, Anwar as the Deputy Prime Minister, was given the responsibility of acting Prime Minister, but it seemed that he could not deal with the issues.”
“His approach to the devaluation of the ringgit was to follow the opinions of the IMF and the World Bank. I was of the view that following the IMF and the World Bank will result in our country becoming bankrupt and we would not be able to implement our economic policy,” he said.
“But Anwar had no other suggestions but to follow the IMF and the World Bank, which was why I had to take over Finance Ministry portfolio. I was looking for a way to save the country,” he added.
This was said when he was asked on his views on whether Anwar has the ability to lead Malaysia through the economic recession forecast to hit countries next year.
“But based on his past experiences (and) his demonstrated abilities (while in office), I fear for the future. There are many problems facing the country at the moment, such as the effects of the pandemic, the economy has deteriorated badly, and the political situation is unstable.”
Mahathir was also asked if it was true that various parties believed that he did not want Anwar to become Prime Minister.
“That is up to the people and the party to choose him. But I’m worried about his leadership abilities, whether he can lead (Malaysia) when we (are) facing many problems,” he said.
What do you think of his comments? Do you agree?
Also read: Tun M Says That Malaysia Lags Behind Indonesia Because of Country’s Political Instability
