KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 — PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has suggested for those who are still pressuring Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to resign as prime minister, can do so through a no-confidence vote in the Dewan Rakyat.
He said a vote of no confidence would be a better choice as this would reflect democracy compared to pressuring Dr Mahathir to step down.
“In a democracy, there are all sorts, and one of it is that the prime minister resigns and be replaced by someone else.
“The second would be through a vote of no confidence done in Parliament. Those who want this (change the prime minister) so much, that is the fastest way to do it.
“But for me, it is better to choose a vote of no confidence as this will not affect the people. To pressure the change, there will be a backlash,” he said today during a press conference after attending a forum at Malaysian Young Women’s Convention held at the Kuala Terengganu Stadium.
However, he reaffirmed his stance in support of Dr Mahathir’s leadership.
“But in the event of a vote of no confidence, we will still defend Dr Mahathir. Looking at the current situation, we still need him,” he said.
Abdul Hadi was responding to rumours that there would be a rally in the middle of this month urging Dr Mahathir to resign.
Commenting further, he said those who are pressuring the transition of power should be aware that Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the 14th General Election (GE14) because of Dr Mahathir.
“PH won because they put forward Dr Mahathir as the leader.
“Even when Anwar (PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim), was placed at the forefront, they did not succeed.
“When they put Dr Mahathir, suddenly they succeeded and they were able to take over the government. Now they want to take the government (from Dr Mahathir), that is not right,” he said, referring to this move as not abiding by the morale of democracy.
Meanwhile, when asked to comment on Dr Mahathir’s announcement on the return of English for Science and Maths, Abdul Hadi said the statement has to be verified if it has been made official first
“It’s too soon to say. In this current situation when he (Dr Mahathir) is told to step down, we need to investigate first.
“Sometimes, Dr Mahathir has his moves. He will make a statement to gauge the responses of the people,” he said.
Dr Mahathir reportedly said yesterday that the Education Ministry will revive the policy of teaching Science and Mathematics using the English language.
He said that it was crucial for the two subjects to be taught in English as that was the native language for both disciplines.
