Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak said this in referring to allegations by Mahathir that the Government was trying to bankrupt national car maker Proton in order to destroy the former PM’s legacy.
Mahathir had claimed, too, in a blog post, that his businessmen friends were not being allowed to do business with Proton.
Salleh said that the Government was only interested in making sure the benefits of progress and development went to the ordinary people and not just a few cronies, as in the time of Mahathir’s premiership.
He said whatever the Government did was to ensure the ordinary people would have a better life.
He said the focus of the Government was on building the economy and country.
Mahathir, Salleh added, was wrong to assume that the Government had nothing better to do than to expand time and energy in trying to destroy his legacy.
The minister said comments attributed to him Thursday, in an exclusive FMT report, and which was picked up by other media organisations, had given the wrong impression on the issue.
“When I said that if the Government had wanted to erase his legacy we would have destroyed KLCC, it was only to illustrate how absurd his (Mahathir) comment sounded in the first place.
“We are not in the business of destroying home-grown companies, and especially one that has been around for more than three decades.
“The Government has every reason to keep Proton up and running, and will continue to support the national car maker,” Salleh said referring to the RM1.5 billion loan extended to the company recently.
He added that Putrajaya would ensure that Proton remained a brand that Malaysians could be proud of.