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KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad revealed he had assumed that life would take on a more laid-back pace after resigning as the prime minister back in 2003, only for those hopes to be dashed just several days later.
The nonagenarian, who turns 95 in July, when asked if he ever considered leaving politics after so many years to allow the younger generation to lead, said that was his actual intention for resigning.
However, Dr Mahathir said certain parties had pleaded with him to “do something” with the then administration, saying, from that point on, he knew it would be hard to enjoy a retirement away from the government.
“I stopped in 2003 because I wanted to give a chance to the younger generation, but just a few days after I resigned, people started coming to me, droves of them, pleading for help.
“I told them I wanted to take a rest, but they still came, so how am I to reject them?” he said during an interview with Sinar Harian which was streamed “live” on Facebook earlier today.
Dr Mahathir also revealed that his decision to resign as the then prime minister and president of Umno that year would go down as one of his biggest regrets.
“I feel that my biggest regret is when I resigned back in 2003; no one asked me to quit and I was still popular with two-thirds support.
“But I felt it was time to resign, I thought I was old at 72 so that’s why I decided to resign, but I never thought that my predecessors would be involved in such things,” he said.
MORE TO COME