Mahathir’s son Mukhriz ‘in no rush’ to join Malaysia’s federal government, says work on Kedah state comes first
- Kedah’s chief minister has a good chance of rapidly scaling the political ladder due to his pedigree, commentators say
- But Mukhriz Mahathir says he has ‘tonnes’ of work left to do in Kedah, one of Malaysia’s poorest regions
“People have been asking me whether I may be moving to the federal government,” Mukhriz told This Week in Asia in a recent interview. “And I keep telling all the bosses [in the ruling coalition], please give me some time to finish what I start.”
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Both Mahathirs were once part of Barisan Nasional – the elder statesman as its leader and as a prime minister for 22 years – but crossed aisles in 2016 in their bid to oust the scandal-hit former premier Najib Razak.
In the interview, Mukhriz said one of the sore points of the bruising political battle was that he was not able to fully execute his plans for Kedah after his first stint as chief minister was unceremoniously cut short.
“You have to remember that the last time I was here, I did not finish my term. I did barely three years. I did not have time to even leave a legacy, if you want to call it that,” he said in the wide-ranging interview in Alor Setar, the capital of Kedah.
“I have a lot of ideas and I am desperately trying to make sure they are at least [moving in the right direction]. It is not just about being groundbreaking,” he said.
In any case, the businessman-turned-politician insisted he did not view his political career as a race.
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“I am easy. I am in no rush. It’s not as if I have ambitions of you know, ‘Oh, I have to be a minister at this point, and I want this ministry and not that’,” he said.
Mukhriz said international investors have asked him about the country’s politics – especially on the topic of when his father will step down as prime minister.
Pakatan Harapan – a coalition of four parties that has an informal alliance with the ruling party of Sabah state – have an internal pact which stipulates that Mahathir must step down to make way for the veteran politician, Anwar Ibrahim, 72, some time during the current electoral term.
The initial understanding was that Mahathir would make way for Anwar, a former protégé whom he fell out with in the 1990s, within two years of last May’s election.
Mahathir’s latest position is that he will hand over power to Anwar as promised, but says he will keep the handover date close to his chest so he does not become a lame-duck prime minister.
Mukhriz said “whoever takes over” from his father has the responsibility to make sure the administration is “business-friendly”.
“In the [general election], Pakatan Harapan got a lot of goodwill in a short span of time. We would be making a huge mistake if we take that goodwill for granted and do something else,” he said.
