Mahathir rates Cabinet as ‘3 or 4 stars’
The prime minister says as he has ‘a little experience’, he should tolerate the mistakes by other ministers and help to correct them.
PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has given his seven-month-old Cabinet a “3 or 4-star” rating.
Mahathir said that as of now, he couldn’t give the Cabinet a 5-star rating.
“Maybe 4 or 3 because they (ministers) are new,” Mahathir said in a live interview with RTM when asked to rate Pakatan Harapan (PH)’s performance so far.
“Many of the Cabinet members consist of those who have never been ministers. They were in the opposition.
“So to change from being in the opposition to the government is not something that is easy.
“And I, with a little bit of experience, should tolerate and try to correct mistakes when it happens,” he said.
Mahathir was prime minister for 22 years from 1981 to 2003.
He was sworn in as premier for the second time this May after PH, of which he is chairman, won the general election.
His Cabinet, which consists of 28 ministers, only has a handful of leaders who have previous experience in the government.
In October, Mahathir rated PH ministers as only “40 to 50%” in his books but said many were learning quickly despite lacking experience.
Meanwhile, on the maritime dispute with Singapore, Mahathir said it was time to admit that there was a “problem between us” and it needed to be solved amicably.
“It is true that there are claims between neighbours that are overlapping. It’s not that we want to fight or anything,” he said.
“If we can’t negotiate, if we can’t have arbitration, we consider the court.
“That is our way, but we hope we hold to the truth and the rule of law.
“If we hold to the truth, maybe we will win,” Mahathir said.
On Oct 25, Putrajaya extended the Johor Bahru Port Limits, but was met with a strong response from Singapore who said the decision was unilateral.
The republic said the extension, which tracks the eastern boundary of the 1999 Johor Bahru Port Limits, was within its territorial waters.
Mahathir had then said Malaysia was within its rights to extend the Johor Bahru Port Limits, and denied trespassing into Singapore waters.
In response, Singapore extended the Singapore Port Limits off Tuas effective Dec 6.
Malaysia had recently proposed for both countries to cease and desist from sending assets into the disputed area effective Dec 8 pending discussions on outstanding maritime boundary issues. The idea was shot down by Singapore.
Singapore had said it was ready to discuss the issue with Malaysia “in a constructive manner”.
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Mahathir said earlier today that Malaysian vessels would not be withdrawn from the area. Singapore later said officials from both countries would meet in January to discuss the matter.