LONDON: The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government will focus on repairing damage in the administration machinery and improving the country's financial position which is hampered by huge debts, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.
In a dialogue session with almost 200 Malaysians in the United Kingdom on Sunday, Dr Mahathir said the damage to the country's finance and administration machinery caused by the previous ruling party could have destroyed Malaysia, had the same party won in the 14th general election (GE14).
"(Malaysia) would be a land colonised by others, we would lose power in our own country, thus the people gave support to PH to topple the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, as it did not focus on the country's wellbeing and the nation's development, as well as the problems of the people saddled by high cost of living,” he said.
In the meeting held on the first leg of his visit to the United Kingdom, Dr Mahathir said the country's administration was also badly damaged as corruption permeated the highest to lowest levels.
He said the administration machinery also sided with the then-ruling party and was even campaigning directly and openly to assist BN, even though they should have been politically neutral.
"Their loyalty was not only to the administrators but also to the ruling party," he said.
On restoring the financial position of the country, Dr Mahathir said it is important that it be carried out, even if the government is forced to sell assets to obtain funds to pay its debts.
According to Dr Mahathir, the previous government owed about RM1 trillion and the debts have to be paid, otherwise, the country may go bankrupt.
"We have also lost the borrowed money, we do not know where it has gone to, so we do not have the money to settle the debts," he added.
Dr Mahathir said the budget is usually in deficit, as revenue is not sufficient to settle the debts. Funds are insufficient to finance government expenditure to administer, as well as for development, including providing scholarships for students.
"Many more improvements need to be made. If given time, the (government) will overcome the problems," he added.
Dr Mahathir said that he hopes scholarship holders will finish their studies swiftly, like Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, who completed his studies in two years, compared to the usual duration of three years.
"If we can reduce the time, we could then go home and serve," he said to applause by the audience.
On the proposed third national car, Dr Mahathir said that it will give the country the opportunity to be involved in engineering.
He said building a car which needs 4,000 parts is not easy and not any engineering graduate can do it if they do not practise this aspect of engineering.
Through the manufacturing of cars, he said the country would be able to master engineering, which would bring development in manufacturing as well as various engineering skills and knowledge.
"It is not just about the car, but the engineering possibilities which can lead to the stimulation of other areas of the economy," he said.
Dr Mahathir also quashed suggestions that Proton is a failure because when it was “under a good management,” the national car maker was able to accumulate RM4 billion in reserves and build a plant in Tanjung Malim with its own money, without asking for government assistance or borrowing from a bank.
He said Proton was a success until it was decided to allow foreign cars to come into Malaysia unrestricted – but Malaysia could not sell its cars in the foreign countries as they imposed conditions on their sale.
"It's all about importing their cars, not exporting our cars. And of course, if you don't export your cars, you don't earn foreign exchange. If you keep buying foreign cars then you will lose a lot of money every year," he said.
Dr Mahathir said the government will have to ask the private sector to take the lead on the third national car project, as the government does not have the money to fund it.
The meeting was organised by the United Kingdom Bunga Raya Club, which was set up in 2016 to support the aspirations of Bersatu.
Apart from club members, other students in the United Kingdom were also present at the dialogue.