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Former Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng claimed that former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad threatened to sack him three times in front of other Cabinet members.
(New Standard Time) – In a Facebook post, Lim said Mahathir made the threat because he insisted on implementing the Pakatan Harapan 2018 election manifesto, which included reducing North-South Expressway tolls by 18%.
“He also opposed my efforts to implement open tendering for government procurement and to provide development grants to our MPs.
“Despite his objections, I was able to successfully lobby the majority of the Cabinet to agree to the proposals, much to his chagrin.”
He was commenting on the book Dashed Hopes by Romen Bose, which details political events after the 14th general election.
The DAP chairman also criticised Mahathir for expressing the former Langkawi MP’s views in the book, saying it was “riddled with half-truths and lies”.
He accused Mahathir, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, of using “selective memory” to create a positive image of himself.
Lim said that while the memory loss could be due to Mahathir’s advanced age, it was necessary for him to set the record straight.
“As finance minister, I witnessed his impressive start to his second term as prime minister and his commitment to delivering on Pakatan Harapan’s 2018 general election manifesto.
“Unfortunately, that promise quickly degenerated into an open defiance and flagrant violation of almost every major campaign promise of Pakatan Harapan,” Lim said.
Lim cited the example of Mahathir declaring his election manifesto unholy and opposing major promises such as lowering toll rates, which led to a drop in Pakatan Harapan’s support rate.
“In 2018, the Pakatan Harapan government quickly descended into a daily battle between those seeking to deliver on major election promises and their supporters, led by then PKR deputy president and economic affairs minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.”
Lim also pointed out that Mahathir was surprised that he opposed banning UMNO as a political party and stressed the right to freedom of association.
He said Umno did not ban DAP or PKR when it was in power and they joined hands with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to persuade Mahathir to abandon the idea.
“Mahathir was also angry about the role played by then Damansara MP Tony Pua as my political secretary. He hinted several times that he wanted me to sack him. I refused and made it clear that I would resign if he forced me to do so.”
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