PETALING JAYA: Lim Guan Eng claims former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad threatened to sack him three times when he defied him as the finance minister.
In a Facebook post today, Lim said that in the event the ministers’ proposed reform initiatives were not approved by the prime minister, they could appeal to the Cabinet.
Lim, who was the finance minister from 2018 to 2020, said he went to the Cabinet to seek such approval three times, all of which Mahathir strongly objected to.
“I managed to secure Cabinet approval from almost every minister for all three initiatives, earning the ire of the prime minister,” he said.
“On each of the three occasions that Mahathir was overruled by the Cabinet, he threatened to sack me for defying him.
“I was prepared to be axed but continued to pursue these reform initiatives that benefited the people.”
He said Mahathir did not carry out his threat, and instead resigned on his own accord in February 2020.
Apart from the granting of RM3.8 million annually to government MPs, Lim said, Mahathir objected to the review of government contracts awarded without open tender.
The DAP chairman said Mahathir also objected to the 18% reduction of the PLUS highway toll as the first step towards the eventual abolition of toll.
He was responding to Mahathir’s comments on Saturday that DAP was unable to control him during his second stint as prime minister when Pakatan Harapan was in power.
Mahathir also said Lim had to ask for his permission before he “wanted to do anything (in the government)”.
