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Malaysia’s Mahathir says ready to form ‘unity government’ if Muhyiddin’s budget fails to pass parliament on Tuesday
- The former prime minister said Malaysia ‘has too many problems’ and indicated he would be happy to lead it for a third time ‘if I have enough votes’
- He was speaking at a joint press conference in Kuala Lumpur with erstwhile rival Razaleigh Hamzah of the United Malays National Organisation
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The Starin Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and erstwhile rival Razaleigh Hamzah held a joint press conference on Monday to announce they were ready to form a “unity government” if the country’s parliament fails to pass a budget on Tuesday.
The pair distanced themselves from the opposition Pakatan Harapan coalition and said they were not working with any MPs belonging to the United Malays National Organisation (Umno) who are being tried in the courts.
“You can call it ‘unity government’ if you want to. If I have enough votes, I do not mind being the PM,” Mahathir said. “We have discussed [finding] ways to return as a progressive country again. We realise that our country has too many problems … All of those in the government are [in it] for their own political gain and big salaries.
“We need to make policies of advancing the country and not for our own parties and not for our own selves.”
Mahathir said he was not working with Anwar Ibrahim, head of the opposition People’s Justice Party, as “Anwar does not talk to me”, adding that he does not want to work with scandal-tainted MPs such as fellow former prime minister Najib Razak or Umno President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi even if they vote against current Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s budget on Tuesday.
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