KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng today dismissed the book Shattered Hopes on the abortive Pakatan Harapan (PH) government as evidence of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s possible “senility”.
Lim alleged that the book by Romen Bose contained half-truths and falsehoods from Dr Mahathir to paint the latter in a favourable light, and said he wished to “put the record straight” about the ex-PM’s depiction of DAP.
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He said that while Dr Mahathir started off well after PH won the 2018 general election, the latter quickly began blocking attempts to deliver on its election manifesto promises.
“Mahathir openly threatened to sack me three times in front of Cabinet meetings. He was openly riled up by my persistent insistence on reducing the North-South Highway toll by 18 per cent over his strenuous objections,” Lim said in a statement.
“He was also opposed to my implementing open tenders for government procurements and granting development allocations to our Members of Parliament. Despite his opposition, I managed to lobby a majority of Cabinet members to agree with these proposals to his chagrin.”
Lim said Dr Mahathir was both upset and surprised that DAP did not agree with the latter’s plan to ban Umno, which Lim said violated fundamental human rights of freedom of association.
He said the plan to outlaw Umno was eventually thwarted after he enlisted the support of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Dr Mahathir was also angry towards Tony Pua, then DAP Damansara MP and Lim’s political secretary, and had tried unsuccessfully to have the latter sacked, Lim said.
The book from Bose, a former political aide of ex-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, was released earlier this year and claims to depict “the promise, reality, and collapse of New Malaysia’s Pakatan Rakyat and Perikatan Nasional governments”.
