DOHA: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad suggested on Saturday that he may seek to stay in power after 2020.
Asked at the Doha Forum in Qatar if he would step down in 2020, he said he wanted to fix problems created by the previous government before resigning. He also said he could not guarantee who would succeed him as prime minister.
Mahathir promised on Dec 10 to hand over power to his anointed successor Anwar Ibrahim, in spite of new sexual assault allegations against him. He said the handover could take place after the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit that Malaysia is to host in November 2020.
Mahathir was unexpectedly elected in 2018 as the head of a coalition government in which the largest party is led by Anwar, who was also seen as the heir apparent when Mahathir was prime minister in the 1990s. Anwar has since been jailed twice on separate counts of sodomy and for corruption - charges he has always insisted were political.
Anwar said on Thursday that he had given a statement to police after denying a new accusation that he sexually assaulted a former aide a year ago.
Muhammed Yusoff Rawther, who worked at a charity founded by Anwar, had accused the former deputy premier of trying to force him to have sex in September 2018.
Anwar has denied the charge, describing it as “politics at its worst”.
Anwar spent nearly a decade in jail on two separate counts of sodomy and for corruption, charges that he and his supporters maintain were aimed at ending his political career. He was first jailed in 1999.
Anwar spent an hour at police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday to provide his account of the allegations, he said in a statement.
“Throughout the process, I provided the facts and full cooperation to the police,” he said.
Following the interview, police officials accompanied Anwar and his lawyer to his home to complete their investigations, he said.
Malaysian police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Same-sex acts are illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia and carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail.