PETALING JAYA, June 1 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has denied accusations by Opposition coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) that he had preempted the Cabinet when announcing the cancellation of the Malaysian-Singapore High Speed Rail (HSR) project.

Speaking to a press conference, Dr Mahathir said the issue has been part of Pakatan Harapan's manifesto and they have been campaigning for it during the 14th General Election.

"How was I preempting? That was decided by the party from the very beginning. We campaigned on that issue and I'm not going to go away from the decision of the party simply because I can't form Cabinet soon enough," Dr Mahathir said.

On Tuesday, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the decision regarding the HSR project has not been discussed in Cabinet.

However, that day itself saw Dr Mahathir confirming the cancellation of the project but added that the process will take some time as the government still needs to discuss the matter with Singapore.

Other mega-projects which could be axed include the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) and the Pan-Borneo Highway.