KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today blamed his loss of his deposit in the 15th general election on Langkawi voters who valued money they were allegedly given before the polls over his service as their elected representative.
Speaking on Khairy Jamaluddin and Shahril Hamdan’s Keluar Sekejap podcast, Dr Mahathir said he felt saddened over the loss as his past efforts to develop Langkawi were not appreciated by the locals.
“I asked why, they said Tun did not give money, that was their answer.
“I then asked how much they received, to which they replied RM100 and could last two days.
“I am disappointed that the Malays these days are more concerned with RM100 than the services we have provided to them,” he said in the episode aired earlier today.
In GE15, Perikatan Nasional’s (PN) Datuk Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah won with a 13,518-vote majority against Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Datuk Armishah Siraj.
Dr Mahathir only garnered 4,566 votes and lost his deposit along with all 121 candidates from the Gerakan Tanah Air.
Despite his loss to the PN candidate, Dr Mahathir went on to join the coalition as its unofficial adviser to the so-called SG4 states.