Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad
PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said it was difficult to set a date for the country’s leadership transition.
“We have to study the situation. In figures, specific date…if work is half done,or not done, it will be difficult,” he said when asked if there is a fixed date for the leadership change so that the people do not have to worry too much about it.
During a dialogue organised by the Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank in New York, last week, Dr Mahathir was reported as saying that he would step down as prime minister before the 15th general election.
“I promise that I would step down before the next election and give way to another candidate. So I may have at the most three years perhaps,” he was quoted as saying.
Under a Pakatan Harapan (PH) pact, Dr Mahathir would be appointed prime minister and would hand over the country’s leadership to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
However, no specific time frame was given.
On calls to expedite the leadership transition, Dr Mahathir said it was never discussed.
It was reported that former PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali had called for the leadership change to be implemented soon and claimed that Dr Mahathir’s intention to step down in at least three years would kill PH because Anwar would not have enough time to campaign and plan his strategy. — Bernama