Dr M resigned as Bersatu chair because he did not want to renege on promise, says Kadir Jasin

PETALING JAYA: It was a heated affair on Sunday (Feb 23), where most of the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia leadership council members tried to get Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to renege on his promise to hand over the premiership to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim after the Apec Summit in November.

Veteran journalist Datuk A. Kadir Jasin (pic) wrote in his blog that the 94-year-old appealed to them not to force him to abandon his principles and go back on his promise.

Dr Mahathir then stepped down as the chairman of his own party because he felt that a majority of the leadership council members “listened more to his political secretary than him”.

“He was referring to the heated debate at the council’s meeting on Sunday, during which the future of Bersatu in Pakatan Harapan was discussed.

“At that meeting, he explained the wide mandate the Pakatan Presidential Council had given him at the meeting of Feb 21.

“By the look of things, he is not treating their appeal as an urgent matter. It should be so. There are many more urgent matters that require his attention, ” Kadir wrote.

He added that Dr Mahathir received an unplanned visit from Bersatu leaders Tuesday morning (Feb 25) at his private residence in Sungai Besi to plead with him to withdraw his resignation.

Kadir pointed out that other more important matters include managing the economy, steadying the capital market, continuing with the proposed economic stimulus package, consulting with top civil servants and meeting leaders of the main political parties.

“The last bit of the agenda will help him understand more clearly the extent of support most of them had expressed for him and from there, to plot the next move.

“For instance, are they supporting him because they genuinely want him to continue to lead the country, or because they don’t want their adversaries to win popular support to become Prime Minister?

“If the support is genuine and there’s no other contender, he can start forming a new government, ” his blog post read.

Kadir added that whatever form of government Dr Mahathir decided on, it is for sure that crooks, kleptocrats, and the generally corrupt were not welcome.

He made that clear to the party at the Sunday meeting.