IPOH, Feb 28 — Datuk A. Kadir Jasin said that the ‘unity government’ proposed by interim prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was not to form a dictatorship, as claimed by some, but to save Malaysia from political turmoil.

Kadir wrote in his blog that this was something that was already envisioned by Mahathir when he returned to politics in 2016.

“His intention is not to be dictator or autocrat but to administer in a calmer and more effective manner without disruption from partisan politics.

“By doing this, Malaysia will be more democratic because the government will be open to being scrutinised by all political parties inside and outside the Dewan Rakyat,” he wrote in his blog.

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Kadir said that this is Mahathir’s final effort in fulfilling the aspiration and objective to save Malaysia that he had helped built when he made a comeback.

“The Save Malaysia Campaign which was signed by 1.4 million people was the reason why he returned to the political arena after retiring back in 2003,” he said.

Kadir said that Mahathir’s decision to form a unity government was driven by the fact that his party's politics had hindered his intention to honour and fulfill the mandate given to him.

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“On Feb 21 the Pakatan Harapan (PH) Presidential Council gave Mahathir the full support to continue as the Prime Minister until the end of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), which is in November.

“There was no date fixed at the meeting to transfer power to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. As such, his view on the matter is that he was given a new mandate by PH to continue administering and the claims that he was forced to withdraw in May is not true,” he said.

“Mahathir’s intention to hold on to the position of prime minister is to cleanse the country of the filth left by the BN government and to address the repercussions of the Covid-19 outbreak,” he added.

However, Kadir said that on Feb 23, a majority of Bersatu supreme council members via a meeting pressured Mahathir to pull the party out of PH and join Umno and PAS.

“Mahathir had repeatedly begged the Bersatu supreme council members to give him a chance and not to force him to go against his principles and break his promise to the PKR president,” he said, adding he was also there during the meeting.

“However, the decision was taken to exit PH and Mahathir resigned as prime minister as it was necessary, with PH no longer holding the majority in the Dewan Rakyat,” he added.

Kadir said that he did not have to resign from his post as Bersatu chairman, but did so since he did not get the support from the supreme council members.

“He only returned as Bersatu chairperson after the supreme council begged him “on bended knee”,” he said.

Kadir said this was why Mahathir proposed a unity government.

“Practical or not, that is his decision today and it is up to the Dewan Rakyat to decide if it supports this on Monday, at a special sitting,” he said.

Yesterday, Mahathir announced that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong found no MP has majority support of the Dewan Rakyat to be appointed prime minister.

As such, a special Dewan Rakyat sitting on Monday is the best avenue to decide this, he said.

This came after the Agong gave an audience to all 222 MPs over two days. The interviews were conducted to find out who the MPs support to be the next PM.