“People have been asking me if two years is enough to solve the problems that would be left behind by Najib.
“To me, if the next prime minister had never taken up the post of PM before, without experience, two years may not be sufficient for him to solve the problems.
“I have been the PM for 22 years, I don’t need to relearn the responsibilities of a PM. I know the responsibilities of a PM and what he should do,” Mahathir said.
The Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman was addressing doubts over his statement that should PH win the 14th general election, he will only remain as prime minister for two years.
Mahathir said this during a Policy Talk session streamed live on his Facebook page today.
He added: “But even so, to be able to solve all these problems takes a long time. In the next two years, we may not be able to solve all the problems, but we will be able to improvise certain guidelines in order to work towards solving these problems.”
Mahathir said during his time as prime minister, his administration had solved complicated problems, and even though the current problems were more complicated, he was confident they could be dealt with.
He also said he had identified the problems and steps he needed to take if PH were to win the next general election.
“When I become PM, I will exercise these ideas and improvements that I have outlined to solve the problems that were left behind by Najib,” he said.
One of the changes he plans to implement is a separation between the roles of prime minister and finance minister.
“I have an opinion, and that is, the PM should not also be the finance minister. When I was PM, I was only finance minister when we were waiting for a new candidate to fill in the place of the sacked finance minister.
“I took on that responsibility for a year, because it took some time for us to find a replacement and some of the things I did included planning for the country’s budget.
“But I think it is better that the PM does not hold the responsibilities of a finance minister.”
He said during his time, the prime minister and deputy prime minister took turns to be the defence minister and home minister.
“These two ministries are very important to ensure the security and the stability of the country, and that is why the PM and DPM should take turns to share the responsibilities as defence minister and home minister.”
There have been mixed reactions to PH’s decision to name Mahathir as its choice for prime minister if the coalition wins GE14.
Some, who hold him responsible for decisions during his 22-year tenure which eroded the independence of national institutions and curbed civil liberties, are against him holding power again.
Yesterday, the PH chairman announced that the coalition would limit the tenure of the prime minister to two terms, or ten years, if it captures Putrajaya in GE14.
He said a prime minister might abuse his power if he held the top post for too long.
“We will reduce the term to two terms only. Not more than that,” he had said, adding that this was necessary to curb corruption.
Najib has until June 24 to call for elections, failing which Parliament dissolves automatically. Polls must be held within 60 days from the date of dissolution.