PUTRAJAYA, May 6 -Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad could not resist a dig at Tun Abdullah Badawi today when asked to comment on the latter's appointment as Malaysia Airlines advisor.
Asked about Abdullah’s appointment, Dr Mahathir poured on the sarcasm with: “I suppose until I vacate this place he must be put somewhere.”
“I actually also asked to be made advisor to MAS but I didn’t get it, maybe it’s because I am not too qualified,” he quipped.
The Najib administration had earlier this week manoeuvred around a potentially delicate situation by making Abdullah, popularly called Pak Lah, the advisor to MAS and keeping Dr Mahathir as Petronas advisor.
This was despite a decades-old tradition for a recently retired prime minister to be given the prestigious position of advisor to the national oil company which began with the late Tun Hussein Onn, Malaysia’s third prime minister who retired in 1981.
Asked whether Abdullah will be able to effect changes in MAS, Dr Mahathir replied: “He was able to be prime minister.”
“People chose him to be prime minister ... you get what you deserve,” he added, glibly ignoring the fact that Abdullah was his handpicked successor.
Dr Mahathir has been harshly critical ever since Abdullah cancelled several of his projects, including the proposed crooked bridge to Singapore.
Despite Abdullah’s retirement on April 3, the country’s longest-serving prime minister has not let up in his potshots at his nemesis, whom he has also held personally responsible for Barisan Nasional's worst ever electoral performance in last year's general elections.
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