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The former prime minister said for PAS to form a government it needed to work with non-Malays and Malays who were not party members or traditional supporters.
(FMT) – Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Islamic Party could never form a federal government on its own due to its limited support.
He said PAS could only win votes in Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis. “That’s not enough,” said Mahathir, who serves as an unofficial adviser to the four PAS-led state governments.
In a special interview with FMT, Mahathir said PAS won more than 40 parliamentary seats in the 2022 general election, but “this is not enough to form a government”.
“They have to work with others. If PAS wants to govern, it has to find about 80 more seats to reach 112 seats (for a simple majority in the Dewan Rakyat). These 80 seats will come from the west coast (of the peninsula), and people on the west coast are not PAS supporters,” he said.
“Hence, PAS itself cannot rule the country. It must work with non-Malays and Malays who are not PAS members (or supporters).”
Mahathir said PAS would struggle to secure a majority in the House of Representatives despite UMNO’s loss of support among Malay voters and Bersatu facing corruption cases and defections.
In the current Parliament, PAS (43 seats) and Bersatu (25 seats) are in the opposition, while the government is a coalition of Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional and East Malaysian parties controlling 153 seats.
Mahathir, who led UMNO for 22 years until 2003, said UMNO had been “corrupted” by Najib Razak and those who remained in the party were “in it for the money”.
“They found out that if you are elected as a representative you can get income, but not only that, you can get business opportunities. We found out that they are making money for themselves, not running the government,” he said.
Najib, who became UMNO president in 2009, is serving a 12-year jail term on corruption charges linked to the 1MDB financial scandal. The sentence has now been halved to six years.
Malaysia only needs growth, not a new ‘vision’
Mahathir, who launched a 30-year national plan called “Vision 2020” in 1991, said the country did not need a new “vision”.
“Just work hard to develop the country,” he said, noting that despite its huge potential, Malaysia has yet to achieve developed country status. He blamed corruption and politicians who focus on politics rather than development.
He said the country’s failure to reach its full potential was the fault of his successor prime ministers, who had dismantled policies he had put in place that put the country in a strong position.
“When I chose to resign as prime minister (in 2003), it was not because of any pressure. I chose to resign because Malaysia’s economic growth was very good at that time.
“I thought my successor would continue to implement policies that benefited the country. I believe that if they continue to implement the policies that made Malaysia known as an Asian tiger, Malaysia will become a developed country by 2020.
“But they didn’t do that,” he said.
Mahathir first became prime minister in 1981. After 22 years in office, he resigned in 2003 and was succeeded by his then-deputy Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Six years later, Abdullah gave way to Najib.
In the 2018 general election, the Barisan Nasional government led by Najib was defeated by the Hope Alliance, which nominated Mahathir, then chairman of the United Malays National Organization, as prime minister. On February 24, 2020, Mahathir resigned for the second time in his career.
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