Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad addresses reporters during a press conference at the Al-Bukhary Foundation in Kuala Lumpur August 30,2019. — Picture by Ahmad Zamzahuri

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has admitted weakness in communicating the success of its policies as the reason behind Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) dwindling popularity among the public.

In a press conference after the PH Presidential Council meeting today, the 94-year-old also blamed the press for focusing on controversial matters instead of the government’s success stories.

“There are many accusations that the PH coalition is no longer well liked by the public. They say if we contest in an election today, we will lose. So we want to know why and we discussed long and hard to find out where we did wrong.

“We found out that we did not do anything wrong but because of poor communication, even though we spoke to the press about our successes, the press asked us controversial questions.

“The press loves controversy. So that’s why I find it difficult to comment on controversial matters,” said Dr Mahathir.

He added that many issues can easily be resolved by the Cabinet but due to media reports that triggered anger among the public, there are parties that take advantage of the situation and make a mountain out of a molehill — particularly when it comes to race relations.

He said extremists do not appreciate the fact that Malaysia is a peaceful nation and its race-religion problems are miniscule and not as serious as those found in other countries.

Dr Mahathir pointed out that many other countries, especially those in the Middle East, became war-torn nations and were eventually destroyed due to the actions of the extremists.

“If we allow ourselves to be influenced by extremists who are trying to fan the flames of emotion, we will become like Middle Eastern countries that go to war even though they are from the same ethnic group.

“We don’t have war here, but if you play up race, religion and the differences (between us), of course we will become enemies with each other and something like the situation in the Middle East might happen here,” he added.

Dr Mahathir reiterated that today’s presidential council meeting had a long and “fruitful” discussion on the matter and they decided that better engagement with the media is needed to send the message that Malaysia is a peaceful country across to the public.

When it was pointed out to Dr Mahathir that the media only reported what was said by PH leaders themselves, the world’s oldest elected official dismissed statements made by lower ranking leaders of the ruling coalition to the press.

He responded by saying that some of these leaders were unaware of the real problems and guilty of knee-jerk reaction when commenting on current topics.

Touching on media freedom and whether or not it will be stifled after he told the press to focus on the PH administration’s successes, Dr Mahathir sarcastically told the press to leave the room.

“Yes, I’m going to stifle all of you. Get out, get out, get out! Did I do that? Najib ran away from the press but I don’t run away from the press.

“We have already espoused freedom of the press in our manifesto but you are asking me to say it again,” he said, referring to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who was known to avoid the media in the last few years of his term in office.

At the same time, Dr Mahathir also said he will consider holding a press conference after every Cabinet meeting to ensure better press engagement.