KUALA LUMPUR June 29 — One of problems faced by countries accepting democracy for the first time is that no political party wants to accept electoral defeat, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

The prime minister said that addressing political issues in a democratic setting was one of the key discussion points during his meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo earlier today.

"If we practise an iron fist rule, then there is no problem but now that we want to practise democracy, the system does have its flaws.

"One of the problem that we observed in countries embracing democracy for the first time is that people only wanted to win and refused to accept defeat,” he said at the joint press conference with Jokowi, as the Indonesian President is fondly called, in conjunction with his official visit to Indonesia.

Dr Mahathir’s visit to Indonesia was his first official visit following his victory in the 14th general election, which saw his Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition handing a historical defeat to the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) regime which had rule for over 60 years.

Dr Mahathir said people must accept the reality that when there is a competition, there will always be a winner and loser where democracy is practised.

"When they are defeated, they organise demonstrations, strikes and chaos ensue following a general election.

"The defeated parties must accept defeat and not create trouble until the next general election to be held four or five years later... that is the best way,” he said.

He said although the political issues faced by Indonesia was bigger than Malaysia, the core problems remain unchanged.