.jpg "Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad acknowledged that he had long been perceived to be a ‘dictator’, but said he was not one to stay beyond the period he would be welcome to do so. — Picture by Yusof Mat Isa")
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 ― Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said that he would have actually ceased to be prime minister when the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government fell in February 2020, even if he did not resign from the position.
Dr Mahathir acknowledged that he had long been perceived to be a “dictator”, but said he was not one to stay beyond the period he would be welcome to do so.
He noted he had resigned after his first tenure as prime minister from 1981 to 2003, a period spanning 22 years.
“I had always been labelled a dictator by the opposition when I was Prime Minister. I never expected the Opposition to adore me. That would not justify their opposition against me.
“But I resigned in 2003 because I felt I had been PM too long. Dictators don’t resign. But of course those who were against me were not going to stop claiming I was a dictator,” he said in a lengthy blog post today in response to a memoir by former attorney-general Tan Sri Tommy Thomas.
Dr Mahathir then spoke about his February 24, 2020 resignation as both Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia’s chairman and as prime minister of the PH administration.
“I don’t believe in overstaying my welcome. In 2020 I resigned as Bersatu Chairman not because I wished to, but my party had lost their confidence in me. Besides I believed the PH had lost its majority and could no longer be the Government.
“I also resigned as Prime Minister. Actually this was not necessary as the collapse of the PH Government meant I was no longer PM,” he added.
Prior to Dr Mahathir’s resignation as Bersatu chairman and as prime minister, Bersatu had pulled out from the PH coalition, which led to the collapse of the government due to the lost of majority support from MPs.
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