Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia apologized to his allies on Sunday as his former ally Muhyiddin Yassin was about to be sworn in as the new prime minister.
Malaysiakini reported that based on a video recording of his address, Mahathir apologized for resigning as prime minister on Feb 24.
Mahathir said had resigned after believing that he had lost the majority of support because MPs of his party, Bersatu, had pulled out of the ruling coalition of Pakatan Harapan that day.
“I made mistakes. I decided to resign. I resigned because I lost support (of the majority of MPs). So I had to resign. I had no choice.
“I thought that if I resigned, it goes back to the Agong (the Malaysia king to choose a new prime minister),” said the veteran politician.
Mahathir said he could have regained support eventually but that was not to be.
“So I will like to tell you once again, I am very sorry,” he said in the video, which ended on that note.
Mahathir also said he was tricked into trusting Muhyiddin.
“Immediately after telling me that he is loyal to me, (he betrays me). He wasn’t expressing loyalty to me. He expressed loyalty to himself.
