KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today acknowledged he had worked with DAP during the 2018 General Elections (GE14) to achieve his political goal of removing Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the prime minister at the time.
"We need to set goals, we need to achieve certain objectives. (And) when we fight, the enemy of your enemy is your friend."
He was speaking on the Keluar Sekejap podcast led by former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and former Umno information chief Shahril Hamdan.
Dr Mahathir said he was aware that he would not gain majority votes from the people if he did not cooperate with DAP during GE14.
"For example, we want to use DAP to get a majority (of votes), (and) if I don't use DAP, we won't get a majority and Najib will continue to be the prime minister.
"(And) between Najib and DAP, which one do we eliminate and fight? That was why I used DAP and I am aware that they also used me as they have the same goal of bringing down (Najib)," he said during the podcast.
Dr Mahathir said this when asked by Shahril about his decision to work with various parties, including his collaboration with Pas currently, despite the criticism he threw against Anwar that the prime minister was not consistent in his political affiliations.
Dr Mahathir said the opposition, including Pas, also has the same goals as him to topple the current administration.
"At one time, I needed DAP to defeat Najib and now, we have a problem and I realised that there is no other choice other than working with Pas as they have the same goals as I have (in toppling the government).
Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir added that he was prepared to give up the prime minister's position to Anwar, however, was not able to due to the Sheraton Move.
He added that one of the conditions set at the time was also to allow Anwar to be the prime minister after him.
"That was my promise and I would have kept my promise. When I was with DAP, Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), they chose me as a prime minister's candidate.
"However, they also wanted the position to descend to Anwar after I held the position for several years.
"(And) I wanted to keep my promise, but after the Sheraton Move, the PH government lost their position. |
So, even if I wanted to give it to Anwar, he couldn't become the prime minister because the party had lost and they no longer had the majority," he said.
In February 2020, the political crisis dubbed the Sheraton Move saw the fall of the ruling PH government and Dr Mahathir's resignation after 22 months in power.
The PH federal administration was replaced by the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition led by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and included Barisan Nasional (BN) members of parliament.