Dr M: Hadi should go back to school and teach religion

PETALING JAYA: In a tit-for-tat between veteran politicians, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has told PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang to “go back to school and teach religion”.

The remark was a retort to Hadi’s recent statement that Dr Mahathir should serve as a government doctor at Klinik 1Malaysia instead of contesting in the 14th General Election, one day after the 93-year-old confirmed he would contest in Langkawi.

“He shouldn’t have entered politics. He should be an ustaz. He teaches in a kampung, where he is adequately qualified, but he knows nothing about politics.

“It’s a far cry from matters of administration,” said the former prime minister after chairing a Pakatan Harapan presidential council meeting at Menara Yayasan Selangor here.

“When he got to administer Terengganu, what happened to Terengganu?” he said in reference to Hadi’s single term as mentri besar of the state from 1999 to 2004.

“I think he should study more, so his understanding of Islam can grow deeper. Then he can come back here and if he’s clever, we’ll let him be a lecturer in Universiti Islam,” he said.

Dr Mahathir also said he had always planned to contest in Langkawi despite eyeing Kubang Pasu and Putrajaya, too.

He said he could win any of the three seats, but chose to take on Umno in Langkawi.

“Even from early on, I intended to contest in Langkawi, where Umno won (with a majority of) 11,000 votes. We want to see how many they will get,” he said.

He was responding to a question on why he chose to contest in Langkawi instead of the other two areas.

The event also saw the launch of the official music video for Pakatan Harapan’s campaign song, Bina Harapan Malaysia, with a jigsaw puzzle theme.