Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad speaks during the launch of the 62nd International Statistical Institute World Statistics Congress 2019 (ISI WSC 2019) at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre August 18, 2019. — Picture by Hari Anggara

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 18 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today, only “the blind, dumb, and deaf” would liken the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to Barisan Nasional (BN).

In a stinging response against his critics, the 94-year-old Langkawi MP suggested that they were fools for failing to see what his administration has achieved.

He cited reforms in governance and civil liberty as PH’s most glaring feat, saying BN came nowhere close to matching the ruling coalition’s push for more freedom and accountability.

Among the reforms he cited was the plan to limit the prime minister’s term, which Dr Mahathir said BN would never dare to implement.

This, observers say, is quite the accomplishment even by Dr Mahathir’s standards, given that he dominated politics and led with near supreme political power for 23 years as prime minister then.

“We are limiting the term for prime minister (for two terms), did you see Najib do that?” Dr Mahathir asked the press, referring to his immediate predecessor Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the BN chairman he deposed.

Earlier today, DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang claimed there are forces bent on breaking the ruling coalition by employing strategies aimed at pitting PH component parties against each other.

But Lim was also confident that PH could withstood the pressure, saying the parties have come a long way since they first banded by setting aside their ideological differences, an impressive victory on its own.

Dr Mahathir said he agreed with his PH peer.

“I agree with Kit Siang. People say we are like BN, did I steal money? Did I bribe people?” the prime minister quipped.

“If I have, then go ahead and lodge a report against me, let (the authorities) investigate.”

Then, in a swipe against Najib again, Dr Mahathir said PH’s detractors also seemed to have overlooked one glaring fact;

“Look at Najib, he goes around saying cash is king,” he charged.

“Do you see me say such a stupid thing? Am I like Najib to make such an assertion?”