Give us time, we know where we want to go: Mahathir

KUALA LUMPUR ― Malaysian prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Friday (Jan 10) said that his administration needs more time to execute all its plans and promises, but stressed that the government is not directionless.

Dr Mahathir said in order to implement the administration’s plans, it needs at least two years or more from now.

“When Malaysia was switching from an agro-based economy to an industrial economy, it also took time.

“But most of us could not remember and the young never saw the transition. Most were born when the transition was accomplished. It is difficult to imagine an agricultural Malaysia today,” he wrote in his blog chedet.cc.

“The same will happen now. Even for me it is frustrating to wait. But wait we must. The machinery of Government has been cleansed and is rapidly adapting to the new ways of working,” he added.

Dr Mahathir also said that those who accuse Pakatan Harapan (PH) government of being directionless are merely refusing to acknowledge the reality.

“Are we really the same as the Malaysia under the previous government? Or are they saying they prefer the previous kleptocratic government better,” he said.

He claimed PH had to take over from a kleptocratic government which had abused the nation for years, destroyed its finances, undermined its administrative agencies, abused its laws, borrowed well beyond the ceiling permitted, placed the country on the path to bankruptcy, made the people dependent on the government with bribes and generally undermined the moral of the people.

“We don’t steal money nor raise loans so as to have money for bribing people. We spend what we have. What we have is less money. We cannot afford to give free money to people.

“Our way is to increase or create jobs. But the people must be willing to take up the jobs or the business opportunities created,” he said.

Dr Mahathir also said that the world today is in a state of turmoil, and therefore no other nation is really doing well.

“Look at what is happening in Latin America, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, even Australia. Only China, Japan, and South Korea are doing relatively well, but even the countries of Northeast Asia are having intractable problems,” he said.

“Then look at Malaysia. We are stable, peaceful and the government respects the law. We are removing draconian laws or suspending them pending abolishment or amendment. People feel safe travelling anywhere in the country,” he added.

Dr Mahathir also said the PH government is able to retain the solvency of the country despite huge liabilities of well over RM1 trillion, and added that the creditors still has faith in the country and not suing the government.

“Politically the country is stable. Yes, there are some disturbances in a member of the ruling coalition. But this is normal. No one has tried to overthrow the government by a vote of no-confidence. They know it will not succeed,” he said.

He also said that Malaysia’s economy is still growing by adding that the country still has the biggest savings.

“Bank Negara Reserve is very high at RM400 billion plus other fund such as PNB, KWSP, and some smaller funds add up to over RM1.5 trillion.

“Foreign assets are also big. National Oil Company Petronas is doing well with more than 100 billion income and is fully government owned,” he said.

He also said the government’s direction is clear on the launched of Shared Prosperity scheme.

“For our detractors this does not indicate a clear direction. But for the government the direction is clear. We don’t want just to recover and be prosperous. We want to share our wealth equitably,” he said. MALAY MAIL