Dr Mahathir (centre) in a photo call with Malaysians residing in Austria and the Slovak Republic after the dialogue session. — Bernama photo
VIENNA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the coalition would not be affected by any infighting in certain parties and so far, the coalition has been functioning well as the government.
“Within the parties themselves there maybe some fights for positions (and) so on but that has not affected the PH coalition.
“We have four parties and one not in the coalition but in the government (Warisan).
“The four parties are equally strong and we have to reach (a) consensus whenever we have anything to decide…there might be differences but we can live with it and up to now we are functioning quite well in the government,” he said during a Dialogue Session with Malaysians residing in Austria and the Slovak Republic here Monday night.
He was responding to a question from the floor whether the coalition had infightings after being elected the government since May last year.
PH comprises four parties – PKR, DAP, Pertubuhan Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).
Replying to another question, Dr Mahathir said nuclear power would not be the source of energy for Malaysia until experts and science find a solution for treating nuclear waste and reverse the process of extracting the radiation so it would not affect people’s health.
The prime minister said the waste generated by nuclear power was dangerous and trying to get rid of it would be a problem.
“Because up to now science has not managed to reverse the process. You can activate the material to function and have radiation ( for power but) no way to reverse it.
“So until then we will not accept nuclear power plants.
“But when the time comes, when they (science and experts) are able to treat the nuclear waste and it is safe (to the people), of course we will reconsider….but at the moment, no,” he said.
He was answering a question whether Malaysia had alternative plans for power apart from the existing source of energy in the country.
Dr Mahathir said at one time Malaysia sold ‘amang’, a by-product of tin mining industry, to the Japanese who used the radioactive power of the product for its colour television industry.
“But now TV is all about LED and (the Japanese) do not use the material anymore.
“But the material is dangerous and we had long arguments with the Japanese company and eventually we reserved one square mile of land to bury the waste,” he added.
Replying to another question on corruption, Dr Mahathir said that at the moment the government is seen to be corruption-free and nobody is saying that the administration is corrupt.
“I cannot say if we will be corruption-free in the future but at the moment people say we are not corrupt,” the premier added.
About 100 people attended the dialogue session including officers from the Malaysian Embassy.
Malaysian Ambassador to Austria Datuk Ganeson Sivagurunathan moderated the session which took about an hour.
Also present were Dr Mahathir’s wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali and Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Marzuki Yahya.
The prime minister is on a three-day working visit to Austria. — Bernama