However, the 92-year-old Kedahan believes the recipe for his successful administration was the various expert committees he formed, and listened to, in the process of addressing national crises.
This is also a method he hoped Pakatan Harapan (PH) would adopt, if the coalition becomes the government after the next general election, Mahathir said in a Facebook live question and answer session today.
“I had certain approaches in dealing with problems. One of them was to form an expert committee that would obtain all necessary information to understand what was going on.
“And every expert in the committee could give their opinions, and if they could be executed, we would execute them.
“That was what I did to tackle the then currency crisis. And that was why in the end I agreed to the currency control mechanism,” he said, referring to 1998 when the government took the ringgit off the international money market and also pegged the currency to the US dollar at a rate of RM3.80 to US$1.
Mahathir said if he has the opportunity to become an adviser to the future PH government, this is an approach he would suggest to handle the current economic crisis.
“I’m prepared to be part of the committee.”
The chairman of PH’s newest component party, PPBM, also said that when he decided to step down as prime minister in 2003, he had thought that his opinions would be heard by his successors, at least on certain matters.
He said this was because he had over two decades of experience in helming the country, and that may be useful.
His expectation however, didn’t materialise with the Barisan Nasional government.
But if PH comes into power and the new prime minister takes his advice, Mahathir said he was more than prepared to give it.
“If there is any question or problem that requires discussion, I’m prepared to take part in finding the solutions,” he said.
Meanwhile, the nonagenarian reminded the youth of their role in saving the country which they will one day inherit.
This would require them to keep up with the latest developments in the country, so they will be well informed of what needed saving and what they can do to contribute.
“I’m sure the youth wouldn’t want to inherit a country that is damaged due to the actions of today.
“So before the country is destroyed, they have to make sure whoever is destroying the country is stopped in the next general election.”