Malaysian PM promises to hand power after two years

9/7/2018 - 5:26:14 PM

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he would honour an agreement by the four partners of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance to step down after two years and hand over the country's leadership to Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar is now more mature and much experienced, Mahathir said at a recent gathering with Malaysians residing in Brunei.

The four PH parties are Mahathir's Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, Anwar's Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the Democratic Action Party and Parti Amanah Nasional.

Before the May general election, these parties had agreed for Mahathir lead the country for two years should PH win, before passing the baton to Anwar, 71, who was sacked in September 1998 as Deputy PM by then PM Mahathir.

But there has been regular speculation in the last four months that Mahathir, 93, might not keep his end of the bargain, despite denials by both men.

Mahathir also said that much was done to replace the previous prime minister, like holding demonstrations, attempting to move a no-confidence motion in Parliament, lodging police reports and coming up with a People's Declaration rejecting the leadership of Najib Razak, but all to no avail until the people made their stand known through the ballot box.

Mahathir said, on the same note, Malaysians could do likewise if they were dissatisfied with his successor.

Source: VNA

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