PAPAR: Anyone in the country including Sabah can be the prime minister, said Pejuang chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said this when commenting on the offer made by Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for the Deputy Prime Minister position to Sabah leaders.
"I follow the Constitution. The Constitution does not limit the prime minister position to any party. Anyone in Malaysia can be the prime minister, so Sabahans are also eligible to be the prime minister.
"The problem is popularity, whether or not there is support for this. Leaders from Sabah should not just be around Sabah.
"We hope they can come to the Peninsula and Sarawak for them to be better known. With that, there is a possibility that a Sabahan will also become the prime minister.
"The same goes for Sarawakians," he said, adding it also applies to Parti Warisan president Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
"The question is whether he (Mohd Shafie) gets enough support or not, his right to be the prime minister is indeed guaranteed in the Constitution," he said during a press conference here.
Also present, Sabah State Pejuang chief Nicholas Sylvester.
On the claim made by Pas president Tan Sri Abdul Hadi Awang yesterday on their discussion about bringing down BN, Dr Mahathir said that the party's goal was to overthrow political parties involved in corruption and build a government free from corruption.
"We want to establish a government that is clean from them (political parties that are reported to be involved in corruption cases).
"People like that in the government will misuse power for their own interests."