Some Pakatan leaders still have opposition mindset, admits Dr M

PUTRAJAYA: Some leaders in the Pakatan Harapan government are still adjusting to the fact that they are no longer members of the Opposition, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“After becoming government, some of their old habits continue to appear and it affects their way of thinking.

"After all, they were in the opposition for over 60 years.

“But in this short period of time, they have tried to adjust their mindset once they have realised that they are actually the government,” he said, in his speech at the 2018 Perdana Fellowship handover ceremony here on Friday (Aug 17).

The Perdana Fellowship programme allows selected Malaysian youths to work alongside Cabinet members so that they could understand the workings of the government.

Dr Mahathir told the participants that they were the future leaders of the country and advised them to gain as much experience as they could during this time in the government.

“The country recently saw a change in government for the first time in 60 years. We would not know in the future if you would end up in the government or opposition.

“But if you end up in the opposition, you must know how to oppose well. And if you end up in government, then you must know how to be a good government leader,” he said.

Dr Mahathir added that some of the participants could end up becoming a young minister, such as 25-year-old Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who coincidentally is an alumni of the Perdana Fellowship programme.

“But there is one problem when people become ministers at a young age.

"When they grow older they might find it difficult to let go of their positions and will hold on to it for a long time,” joked Dr Mahathir, drawing laughter from the audience.

A total of 60 fellows were selected to be part of this year’s batch, and each was assigned to a Cabinet member, including Dr Mahathir, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as well as Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.