Dr Mahathir reveals reason behind Anwar's delayed premiership

SHAH ALAM - Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has revealed the reasons why Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim did not assume the position of Prime Minister sooner after Pakatan Harapan (PH) won the 14th General Election (GE14).

Dr Mahathir said when he, along with DAP, Parti Amanah Negara and Parti Keadilan Rakyat formed the coalition, the leadership of the respective parties had chosen him to be the Prime Minister, not Anwar.

"However, they also decided that I would become the Prime Minister to give Anwar a chance to be the Prime Minister, and I accepted that. In the end, I accepted the candidacy for Prime Minister on the condition that I would hold the position for a certain period and then hand it over to Anwar," he said in the 65th episode of the Keluar Sekejap podcast hosted by former Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and former deputy Umno Youth Chief Shahril Hamdan today.

Commenting further, Dr Mahathir disclosed that his intention could not be fulfilled due to the Sheraton Move that resulted in the PH government losing its position.

He added that if the position had been handed over to Anwar, he would not have been able to become the Prime Minister as PH had already lost the majority.

"I promised and wanted to fulfill my promise. I wanted to give (the position of Prime Minister) to Anwar, but before I could do that, the party rejected me. When the party lost confidence in me and my actions, I had to resign.

"At that moment, I realised that PH would lose because Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, together with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, would bring down PH. If I appointed Anwar as the Prime Minister, he would not have succeeded," he said.

The revelation sheds light on the internal dynamics and challenges faced by the coalition, ultimately resulting in the deviation from the initially planned transition of power from Dr Mahathir to Anwar.